HealthyWomen and AAGL Announce Winner of the Second Annual Violet Bowen-Hugh, MD Award for Women's Health Excellence

Red Bank, NJ: HealthyWomen (HW) and AAGL announced today Professor John J. Sciarra of Northwestern University as the winner of the second annual Violet Bowen-Hugh, MD Award for Women’s Health Excellence.  The award announcement took place in collaboration with AAGL at its 37^th Annual Global Congress. HealthyWomen is pleased to work with AAGL on this award because AAGL’s commitment to improving women’s healthcare is aligned with the original charter set forth by HealthyWomen’s founder, Dr. Bowen-Hugh. The award is supported by ETHICON Women’s Health & Urology

“We are grateful to Dr. Bowen-Hugh for recognizing and addressing the unique health needs of women before most of her contemporaries,” said Elizabeth Battaglino Cahill, RN, executive director of HealthyWomen. “In honoring her legacy, we are proud to present this award acknowledging individuals who mirror Dr. Bowen-Hugh’s commitment and efforts to improve women’s health.”

Women’s health awareness on a global scale became a major focus of Dr. Sciarra’s academic life during his professorship at Northwestern. In the early 1980s, he assumed three important positions almost concomitantly which provided him an unparalleled insight into international perspectives as they related to women’s health awareness and women’s health needs. In 1984 he was elected as the US delegate of the Executive Board of FIGO (The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics).  Almost simultaneously, he assumed the Chairmanship of the ACOG Committee on International

Affairs. Further, he was selected by the World Health Organization to participate as a member of the Special Programme for Research, Development and Training in Human Reproduction, with notable service on the Scientific and Ethical Review Group as a panel member.

Dr. Sciarra’s personal efforts to bring the importance of women’s health awareness programs and projects to wider attention intensified when he assumed the presidency of The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Shortly thereafter, he assumed the chairmanship of the External Advisory Board of the Carnegie Corporation Project for post-graduate training in Ghana, West Africa, travelling back and forth to that country repeatedly for a period of five years to give his personal assistance to what is now considered a model for bringing better care to women in resource-poor areas. Further, for more than 20 years, Sciarra served as Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics.  Professor Sciarra’s efforts as a medical editor are recognized worldwide.

To learn more about Violet Bowen-Hugh, MD and her contributions to women’s health, log on to https://healthywomen.org/about-us/our-founder.

Media Contact: Candace Jones
                       703-774-6184
                       cjones@healthywomen.org

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About HealthyWomen
The not-for-profit HealthyWomen (HW) organization is the leading independent health information source for women. HW develops and distributes up-to-date and objective women's health information based on the latest advances in medical research and practice, all of which is reviewed by leading medical specialists in the field. HealthyWomen believes all women should have access to the most trusted and reliable health information. Information empowers women to make the best decisions to maintain and improve their health and the health of their families. For more information, visit fmxhosting.com/drupal635.
 
 
About AAGL
The AAGL is the first and largest organization in the world dedicated to gynecologic endoscopic surgery. Founded in 1971, AAGL works to advance the safest and most efficacious diagnostic and therapeutic techniques that afford less invasive treatments for gynecologic conditions through the integration of clinical practice, research, innovation, and dialogue.  For the past 36 years, the organization has educated the world's finest surgeons while improving the lives of women everywhere. This global commitment to women's health care is embodied in their continuing medical education of physicians and professionals to further promote the well-documented high standards of minimally invasive gynecologic surgery.  For more information visit www.aagl.org.