Florence P. Haseltine, PhD, MD
Founder, Society for Women's Health Research
Alexandria, VA

Florence P. Haseltine is a board certified obstetrician and gynecologist and an expert in reproductive endocrinology. She has helped to set the research agenda for the coming decade. Currently she is working on the basis of gender differences and what these differences teach us about the system and the disease process.

Dr. Haseltine received her undergraduate training at University of California at Berkeley, a Doctorate in Biophysics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Medical Degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Following her internship at the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia and her residency at Boston Hospital for Women (Brigham and Women's Hospital), she served as Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Ob/Gyn and Pediatrics at Yale University.

While at Yale University School of Medicine, she took a year of training at the School of Organization and Management in order to develop a proficiency in administration, policy, strategic planning and business development. She wrote computer programs for automating sperm counting and sold them to industry. She has served on the Scientific Advisory Board of Health Care Ventures, a venture capital group specializing in biotechnology.

The health of women and their advancement professionally are central issues for Dr. Haseltine. In 1990, she founded the Society for Women's Health Research and was its first President. This organization has brought the issue of research on women's health to the attention of high federal officials and prominent members of the media as well as placing it on the nation's priority research agenda. As SWHR’s founder she wrote mission statements, raised monies, established bylaws, and hired the original staff. She is also the founder of Haseltine Systems, a company devoted to easing travel for persons with disabilities.

Dr. Haseltine has co-edited, & reviewed numerous publications & books on a range of topics including reproductive biology, women's health, & proceedings of NIH-sponsored conferences related to the reproductive sciences & population issues. She was also the founding Editor of the Journal of Women's Health. In addition, she has made many scientific, public, & media presentations across the country & internationally.

Dr. Haseltine was on the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Society for Gynecologic Investigation. She is currently a board member of the American Women in Science and the Older Women's League. She has been recognized for her contributions in the field of women's health & reproductive science by election to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and by receiving a variety of accolades. These awards include the following: the Weizmann Honored Scientist Award; the Kass Lecturer Award, the American Woman's Medical Association Scientist Award, the Advocacy Award from Research America for the Society for Women's Health Research, the Barbara Eck Menning Founder's Award, and the Kilby Laureates Award. She was also not only honoree for a Health Hero of the American Health for Women Magazine, but also for a Prevention Magazine “Hall of Fame;” and Ladies' Home Journal “Champions of Women's Health.” Dr. Haseltine is a member of many professional societies, and is the author of numerous publications.