Inclusion and Innovation

The new world of 3-D printed organs now includes implanted ovary structures that, true to their design, actually ovulate, according to research from Teresa Woodruff’s laboratory at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

By removing a female mouse’s ovary and replacing it with a bioprosthetic ovary, the mouse was able to ovulate and give birth to healthy pups. The moms were even able to nurse their young.

“Using bioengineering to create organ structures that function and restore the health of that tissue for that person is the holy grail of regenerative medicine,” said Woodruff, the Thomas J. Watkins Memorial Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Feinberg and dean of The Graduate School.

These 3-D printed bioprosthetic ovaries are just one example of Woodruff’s focus on female inclusion in medical and scientific research. As the founder and director of the Women’s Health Research Institute at Northwestern, Woodruff aims to improve women’s health beyond the reproductive system by increasing knowledge of sex differences in medical research.

In 2016, Woodruff helped persuade the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to change its policy to require that females — both animals and people — are considered in all NIH-funded studies.

“It will revolutionize the way drugs and medical devices are developed, and as a consequence, medical treatment and diagnoses will be improved to the advantage of both women’s and men’s health,” she said.

Woodruff has appeared on CBS’ “60 Minutes” in a segment dedicated to the importance of sex-specific research. In 2011, she received a presidential award for science mentoring at the White House from President Barack Obama.