Invited Speaker Talks

S-01.5 Impact of aging on the frequency, phenotype, and function of CD4+ T cells in the human... Zheng Shen SP 1 sp , Mickey V. Patel SP 1 sp , Landon G. vom Steeg SP 1 sp , Marta Rodriguez-Garcia SP 2 sp , Charles R. Wira SP 1 sp I SP 1 sp Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Lebanon, NH, USA, SP 2 sp Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA i B Problem b : Since CD4+ T cells are essential for regulating adaptive immune responses and for long lasting mucosal protection, changes in CD4+ T cells are likely to affect protective immunity. S-02.2 Impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy on fetal immune state Leena B. Mithal I Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine;Lurie Children's Hospital Chicago, IL, USA i SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy is associated with increased risk of adverse maternal and pregnancy outcomes. The objectives including: 1) review treatment considerations during pregnancy and postpartum, pregnancy outcomes and postpartum challenges in women with established rheumatoid arthritis, 2) review treatment considerations during pregnancy and postpartum, pregnancy outcomes and pregnancy challenges in women with established lupus, and 3) review treatment considerations during pregnancy and postpartum and pregnancy outcomes in women with established antiphospholipid antibody syndrome. S-15.6 Longitudinal expression of serum immune markers across pregnancy and fetal growth rest... Shailaja Sopory, Khushboo Kaushal, Ayushi Ayushi, Nikhil Sharma, Shinjini Bhatnagar, Bapu Koundinya Desiraju, Ramachandran Thiruvengadam I Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, India i B Problem b : Pregnancy is a delicate balance of pro and anti-inflammatory cytokines that are appropriately expressed during different stages of pregnancy. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of American Journal of Reproductive Immunology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Editorial

An introduction to articles in the issue is presented on topics including academic life satisfaction and psychological vulnerability of college freshmen in Lisbon, Portugal, interviews with women studying and researching physics and physical sciences in Dublin, Ireland, and experiences of childfree women academics during COVID.

From ‘Muddy glee’ to muddy reflections on fieldwork and writing

'Muddy glee' by Bracken and Mawdsley made an important contribution to highlighting gender discrimination in fieldwork and the heterogeneity of fieldwork experiences. In the past couple of years, the ability of many researchers to engage in fieldwork has also changed dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we reflect on Bracken and Mawdsley's paper and our own experiences and perspectives of fieldwork in recent years. We discuss a previous paper we co-authored (entitled 'Pushing the limits': experiences of women in tropical peatland research), and the benefits that these papers (e.g., 'Muddy glee' and 'Pushing the limits') may provide. We highlight the value of sharing personal experiences in science (which is often seen as an 'objective' space), and how writing for ourselves can be an empowering and community-building act.

Gender representation in science publication: evidence from Brain Communications.

The persistent underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) points to the need to continue promoting the awareness and understanding of this phenomenon. Being one of the main outputs of scientific work, academic publications provide the opportunity to quantify the gender gap in science as well as to identify possible sources of bias and areas of improvement. Brain Communications is a 'young' journal founded in 2019, committed to transparent publication of rigorous work in neuroscience, neurology and psychiatry. For all manuscripts (n = 796) received by the journal between 2019 and 2021, we analysed the gender of all authors (n = 7721) and reviewers (n = 4492). Overall, women were 35.3% of all authors and 31.3% of invited reviewers. A considerably higher proportion of women was found in first authorship (42.4%) than in last authorship positions (24.9%). The representation of women authors and reviewers decreased further in the months following COVID-19 restrictions, suggesting a possible exacerbating role of the pandemic on existing disparities in science publication. The proportion of manuscripts accepted for publication was not significantly different according to the gender of the first, middle or last authors, meaning we found no evidence of gender bias within the review or editorial decision-making processes at Brain Communications.

Women in Systems Science and Gender Parity: Why and How to Democratize the "Technology, Innovation, and Society Nexus".

A career in systems science offers exciting prospects as well as challenges around the world, which are often underexplored or unknown. Gender parity, diversity, inclusion, and equity are essential for knowledge production, systems science research, and innovation to be representative, democratic, and critically informed. By virtue of its focus on systems, omics science is ideally poised to understand and respond to systemic and structural issues that hinder gender parity, equity, and democracy in science and society. In this context, voices from women in systems science in resource-limited countries are often inaudible, a gap that this article aims to bridge. We present here some of the pressing issues and possible ways forward for equitable representation of women in science. We highlight emerging frontiers of systems science such as digital transformation, Industry 4.0, and cyber-physical systems where gender parity and equity are crucial. This article also examines some of the challenges faced by women scientists in Africa. All in all, much work is needed across communities and countries worldwide for diversity and gender equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM)-based programs. Adapting a critical lens that examines power asymmetries in STEM in Africa and around the world, and new ways of thinking for bringing women scientists in Africa to leadership positions in traditional STEM fields such as computer science and engineering where large gender equity gaps exist, is a timely and principled necessity in 21st century science and society.

Assuring Healthy Populations During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Recognizing Women's Contributions in Addressing Syndemic Interactions.

A syndemic framework examines disease interactions and the contributions of structural, social, economic, and environmental factors that synergistically interact to contribute to adverse health outcomes. Populations residing in environments with structural susceptibilities experience health disparities and syndemics to a greater extent than their less vulnerable counterparts. The interactions among the social determinants of health (SDoH) and the COVID-19 pandemic have had different results for marginalized populations and have worsened health outcomes for many in this synergistic pandemic. Also, the exposome, the exposure measures for an individual over their lifetime and how those exposures relate to the individual's health, may help to explain why some populations experience more serious cases of COVID-19 compared to other groups. The purpose of this perspective is to: (1) examine the relationship between the syndemic model and the SDoH-exposome; (2) highlight, via specific examples, the contributions of female health professionals to SDoH and the COVID-19 syndemic in response to the Women in Science Research Topic, and (3) propose health policy to address syndemic-exposome interactions to help mitigate or prevent public health challenges. By investing in policies that assure health for all populations, the investments could pay dividends in the form of a less severe syndemic next time since we are starting from a place of health and not disease. Lastly, due to the magnification of underlying societal inequities laid bare during the COVID-19 syndemic, we support the expansion of the disease-focused syndemic model to include societal syndemics, such as systemic racism.

Undergraduate Women in Science and Engineering Mentoring Program to Enhance Gender Diversity Demonstrates Success during the COVID Pandemic

Many female undergraduate Engineering students struggle during their first and second years of college with finding their place and questioning whether they belong in Engineering. It has been shown that mentoring programs can help encourage women to stay in engineering fields. The University started a Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) mentoring program in Fall 2019, and continued it through the pandemic, during the Spring and Fall 2020 terms. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the first three semesters of the WISE mentoring program on engagement and satisfaction, as well as retention and GPA of women within the program, compared to a control group of women who did not go through the program. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the success of the program was also assessed. The program was designed to implement one-on-one peer mentoring within the WISE program, incorporate mentoring cohort activities, and provide networking opportunities with faculty and students in engineering and science disciplines. Virtual mentoring activities were also incorporated during the pandemic. The program was facilitated by a graduate student in engineering. The initial cohort in Fall 2019 had a total of 44 pairs of women consisting of freshmen mentees paired with upper class mentors within the WISE program. Despite the pandemic and incorporating virtual mentoring meetings, 50 pairs of students joined the mentoring program in Fall 2020, an increase of nearly 14%. Most of the women (82.5%) who were part of the mentoring program rated their partnership as a 3 out of 5 or better. The GPAs of the women in the mentoring program, and those who were not were not significantly different. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021

Gender and authorship patterns in urban land science

What are patterns of gender and authorship in urban land science? Our bibliometric analysis shows that the proportion of women shrinks among highly productive, impactful, and senior authors, akin to a pyramid shape. First, women are only one in ten researchers with an h-index above the 95th percentile. Second, women are first authors on 20% of all influential papers cited more than one hundred times. Third, women publish less frequently (1.6 papers/year) than men (2.2). Fourth, women have shorter career lengths (9.4 years) than men (11.8). Since the 2000s, citation rates for women and men have converged. For the generation starting careers since 2016, the proportion of women with an h-index above the 90th percentile increased to 25%. During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a 51% increase in productivity for women. Despite these changes, gender disparities in urban land science are most pronounced among the most productive and impactful authors.