In this episode, Myers explains why women’s health has historically been difficult to study, how engineering disciplines are beginning to fill decades-long research gaps, and why technologies like digital twins, wearable sensors, machine learning and computational models may dramatically improve diagnosis, treatment and long-term patient outcomes. She also explores what this emerging field means for engineers, educators and the next generation of healthcare innovation.
The Myers Lab had a great time presenting and attending the annual Society for Reproductive Investigation 2026 Annual Meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico! Special congratulations to Charlotte Lee, who received an award for Best New Investigator Poster Presentation for her poster on the effects of a vaginal fluid simulant on mechanical characteristics of the human cervix!
Professor Myers and Echo Xu delivered podium presentations! Professor Myers shared work focusing on the importance of understanding mechanical testing modalities for investigations of reproductive tissues, and Echo’s presentation highlighted a multimodal characterization of nonhuman primate uterocervical anatomy throughout pregnancy.
Daniella Fodera, Alara Sutcu, and Dr. Jacqueline Hairston all gave wonderful poster presentations! Daniella’s poster investigated the tensile mechanical properties of uterine fibroids and myometrium tissue, Alara’s poster focused on cervicovaginal immune factors associated with spontaneous preterm birth, and Dr. Hairston’s poster highlighted a novel aspiration device for quantitative assessment of cervical stiffness.
Other highlights of the conference included a lunch outing with the engineering community at SRI, group dinners with our friends in the Korem lab, and getting to explore San Juan! We can’t wait for next year’s meeting!
The Science of Women’s Health Innovation Symposium, held on January 30, brought together researchers, clinicians, engineers, industry leaders, and students to explore how science and engineering can advance gynecologic, pregnancy, and pelvic floor health. Hosted jointly by Columbia Engineering and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, the event featured keynote lectures, panel discussions, and a student poster session highlighting emerging research in women’s health.
Images from the 2026 Womens Health Innovation Symposium
Images from the 2026 Womens Health Innovation Symposium
Images from the 2026 Womens Health Innovation Symposium
Images from the 2026 Womens Health Innovation Symposium
The symposium emphasized the power of interdisciplinary collaboration to address longstanding gaps in women’s health research. Speakers from diverse fields – including nursing, surgery, engineering, and informatics – discussed how engineering approaches such as data-driven modeling, digital twins, and advanced sensing technologies can accelerate innovation and improve patient care. Read more about the symposium here!
Dr. Myers was recently interviewed by acting Columbia University President, Claire Shipman to talk about our approach for studying the biomechanics of pregnancy through Digital Twins. We are so excited to talk about this work and the future of Women’s Health innovation!
The Myers Lab is excited to congratulate Daniella Fodera on her successful doctoral defense! Daniella’s work focused on the biomechanical characterization of the uterus in pregnancy and gynecologic disease, and establishes fundamental knowledge on the uterus that can be utilized to develop and improve diagnostic and treatment techniques for gynecologic diseases that burden millions of women. Congratulations Dr. Fodera!
Check out this awesome video made by Columbia Engineering highlighting the work of our incredible Ph.D. student, Serena Russell! Here, she explains her process for mechanically testing mouse tissue to better understand cervical remodeling during pregnancy!
Last week, Professor Myers presented work on Digital Twins of Pregnancy at Dassault Systemes Virtual Human Twin Experience Symposium in Boston! This event highlighted the work of technical leaders from academia, industry, and government to share their experiences, data and vision toward the creation of virtual twins of the human body. Presentations showcased how virtual twins can break down silos in medicine, alter the cost structure, power generative scientific innovations, and ultimately improve outcomes for all patients.
Congratulations to our rockstar Ph.D. student, Charlotte Lee, who competed in (and won!) the Iris Fund 5K this past October! Dedicated to ending the heartbreak of prematurity, the Iris fund supports research to understand preterm labor and supports families facing high-risk pregnancies and loss. Learn more about the 5k here! https://runsignup.com/Race/CT/Ridgefield/RidgefieldRoadFest
Congratulations to three of our amazing undergraduate researchers who presented their posters at the Columbia Undergraduate Research Symposium!
Eden presented her work focused on computationally modeling shear wave elastography. Reema shared her work characterizing the mechanical properties of the cervix, and Daffny shared her project focused on AI based image cropping! Fantastic work, everyone!
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