In 2025, the Foundation is going a step further, rewarding research proposals involving the microbiota and its implication in Women’s Health and Disease. Every year, the call for projects will cover a specific theme chosen by a committee of independent international scientists.
Through this grant, the Foundation aims to support MDs, PhDs or Pharm-Ds working in relevant fields such as gynecology, obstetrics, microbiology, infectious diseases, internal medicine, oncology, etc. and based anywhere in the world.
Your research could make a difference. Join us in advancing science and transforming women’s health!
President of the committee, Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Porto, Portugal
President of the committee, Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Porto, Portugal
Pedro Vieira Baptista, is a gynecologist at Hospital Lusíadas Porto, Portugal, specializing in lower genital tract diseases. His clinical focus includes vulvovaginitis, vulvar disorders, sexually transmitted infections, and HPV infection/colposcopy.
With over 100 publications, including peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, he has made significant contributions to the field. He was one of the editors of the ISSVD Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Vulvovaginitis, published in 2023.
From 2017 to 2024, he served as Secretary General of the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease (ISSVD) and is currently the President-elect for the 2028–2028 term. Since 2022, he has also chaired ISSVD’s Vaginitis and Microbiome committee.
He is pursuing a PhD at Porto and Ghent universities, with a research project titled Delineation of a Functional Definition of Bacterial Vaginosis and Vulvovaginal Candidiasis.
Chair Professor Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Chair Professor Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Henriette Svarre Nielsen
Professor, Chief Physician
Henriette has academically and clinically focused on women´s health for more than 25 years. Clinically she is focused on reproduction, fertility, and pregnancy loss. Academically, after defending her thesis in 2013, she established a research group focusing on reproductive and women’s diseases with a motivation to understanding the underlying pathophysiology and use this knowledge for diagnostics, prognostics, and treatments. The group has grown rapidly to now 30+ people and is truly interdisciplinary, bridging basic, epidemiological, and clinical research with a strong data scientist team. Since 2018 she has had a focus on the microbiome in women´s health and have established large deeply phenotyped cohorts in collaborations with CTMR at KI and pioneered vaginal microbiome transplantation RCTs.
She holds the following positions of trust.
2023- Board member Copenhagen Medical Society www.dmsk.dk
2022-2024 Coordinator ESHRE SIG Implantation and early pregnancy www.eshre.eu Now past coordinator
2021- Executive Board ReproUnion www.reprounion.eu
2019- Steering committee, Nordic Center for Women´s and Reproductive Health
2019- Steering committee, Female Reproductive Studies based on Copenhagen Hospital biobank
2018- Steering group postgraduate PhD Program “life cycle in medicine” www.healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/about-the-graduate-school/graduateprogrammes/life-cycle-medicine/
2014- Co-Founder OvaCure. www.ovacure.org
2005- Founder and Chair Maternity Foundation Aim: Saving lives in childbirth www.maternity.dk
Ina Schuppe Koistinen, PhD, Associate Professor, Alliance Director and leader of the Women’s Health team at the Centre for Translational Microbiome Research (CTMR), Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
Ina Schuppe Koistinen, PhD, Associate Professor, Alliance Director and leader of the Women’s Health team at the Centre for Translational Microbiome Research (CTMR), Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
Ina Shuppe Koistinen, PhD is a dynamic scientific leader with a strong commitment to advancing research and innovation in women’s health and the microbiome. After nearly two decades in the pharmaceutical industry—where she led translational research in areas such as CNS, respiratory, autoimmune, cardiovascular, and metabolic diseases—she returned to academia and now holds a senior research position at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.
Ina’s current work focuses on understanding the complex interplay between the vaginal and skin microbiomes and host responses, particularly in the context of hormonal changes, reproductive health, and pregnancy-related complications. Her research aims to identify microbial and inflammatory biomarkers that can inform risk prediction, early intervention, and preventive strategies for dysbiosis and complications such as preterm birth and other adverse pregnancy outcomes.
In addition to her academic work, Ina is a co-founder of Cutis Skin Health Sweden, a biotech startup developing microbiome-based solutions to promote skin health. Her interdisciplinary background in pharmacology, toxicology, and systems biology positions her uniquely to translate microbiome science into meaningful health innovations.
PUBLICATION RECORD
106 PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS (Web of Science January 2025: citations 4347, h-index 37)
Director, Center for Advanced Microbiome Research and Innovation, Institute for Genome Sciences
Professor, Microbiology & Immunology, and Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
Director, Center for Advanced Microbiome Research and Innovation, Institute for Genome Sciences
Professor, Microbiology & Immunology, and Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
Dr. Jacques Ravel is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Center for Advanced Microbiome Research and Innovation (CAMRI) at the Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Molecular Microbiology and Ecology from the University of Maryland College Park. He completed postdoctoral training as a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Fellow at Johns Hopkins University. From 2002 to 2007, he was an Assistant Investigator at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), before joining the University of Maryland in 2007.
For over 20 years, Dr. Ravel has pioneered research applying genomics and ecological principles to understand the role and dynamics of the vaginal microbiome in women's health. He uses clinical genomics and systems biology approaches to develop improved strategies to manage gynecological and obstetrics conditions. His work is driving the development of innovative live microbiome-based biotherapeutics.
Dr. Ravel has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He was awarded the Blaise Pascal International Research Chair in 2015. He founded and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Microbiome.
MSc PhD MRCOG, Chair in Gynaecological Oncology, Professor & Consultant Gynaecological Oncology Surgeon, IRDB, Department of Gut, Metabolism & Reproduction - Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College London, West London Gynaecological Cancer Centre, Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
MSc PhD MRCOG, Chair in Gynaecological Oncology, Professor & Consultant Gynaecological Oncology Surgeon, IRDB, Department of Gut, Metabolism & Reproduction - Surgery & Cancer, Imperial College London, West London Gynaecological Cancer Centre, Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
Professor Maria Kyrgiou holds a Chair in Gynaecological Oncology at Imperial College London and works as a Consultant Gynaecological Oncology Surgeon. The primary focus of her research is translational research in gynaecological cancers, in particular cervical, endometrial and ovarian cancer with an emphasis on prevention, early detection and personalised treatment. Professor Kyrgiou contributes to a number of national and international committees, such as the ESGO Prevention Committee and chairs the BSCCP Research Committee.
She runs a programme of research investigating genetic, epigenetic, microbiome and host interaction in the aetiology of gynaecological cancers. She has an interest in cervical screening and is the Chief Investigator of the NOVEL trial on the HPV vaccination in women with cervical disease. She runs a research group investigating the impact of obesity and metabolic disorders in the development of gynaecological cancers.
Professor Kyrgiou contributes to a number of national and international committees, such as the ESGO Prevention Committee and chairs the BSCCP Research Committee.
200 publications
University Professor, Hospital Practitioner, Head of in Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Angers University Hospital, France
University Professor, Hospital Practitioner, Head of in Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Angers University Hospital, France
Pierre-Emmanuel Bouet (MD, PhD) is a specialist in Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
From 2013 to 2015, he completed his training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility fellowship at Montreal University Hospital and Ovo clinic.
Since 2015, he is head of Reproductive Medicine Unit at Angers University Hospital (France). He is also a member of the INSERM U1083 research team. He has authored and co-authored numerous publications.