About Dr. Teresa Woodruff

Dr. Teresa Woodruff

Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D. (Thomas J. Watkins Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Feinberg School of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Ph.D. 1983, Northwestern University). As a reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Woodruff has spent the better part of her research career focusing on female reproductive health and infertility. To that end, she was made Chief of the newly created Division of Fertility Preservation at the Feinberg School of Medicine. Combining this effort with her work on two R01 NIH grants, a P01 grant and core facility, and her work as director of two NIH funded center grants: The Center for Reproductive Research (U54) and the Oncofertility Consortium (UL1), Dr. Woodruff has established a team of oncologists, fertility specialists, social scientists, educators and policy makers to translate her research to the clinical care of women who will lose their fertility due to cancer treatment. To describe this effort, she coined the term oncofertility, a word that is now officially recognized as a new 'slang' term in the English language.  She has edited two books on the topic, the first titled simply Oncofertility (Springer, 2007) where the scope of the problem and current technology, clinical practice tables, procedural guidelines and patient stories are collected. Her second book, to be released in 2010, is titled Oncofertility: Ethical, Legal, Social, and Medical Perspectives (Springer Publishing) and discusses the ethical, religious, economic, and legal issues surrounding fertility preservation.

She has been an advocate for sex- and gender inclusivity and study in basic science, translational studies and clinical trials and is the Founder and Director of the Institute for Women’s Health Research. As an educator and mentor, she encourages young women to pursue careers in the sciences, and has developed the Oncofertility Saturday Academy in conjunction with the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School as a way to involve high school girls in college level science. She serves on the Endocrine Society Council and the Society for the Study of Reproduction Board of Directors. Her awards include the Distinguished Teaching Award (2000), the Mentor of the Year Award (2009) and the Distinguished Woman in Medicine and Science (2009) from Northwestern University. She was also honored by the Alumnae of Northwestern University with their Distinguished Alumnae Award (2008). She has been honored nationally with awards from the American Women in Science (AWIS) (2008) Innovator Award, the American Medical Women Association (AMWA) Gender Equity Award (2009), and the “Speaking of Women's Health” Distinguished Service Award (2007). She was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2005) and awarded the Endocrine Society’s Richard E. Weitzman Memorial Award (2000).  She is the 2010 recipient of the Feinberg School of Medicine Tripartite Legacy Award, the inaugural recipient of the Young Women’s Leadership Charter School’s Girl Power Award, and is the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.