Icon columnist Karen Kier, who writes articles on behalf of ONU Healthwise, has been named to a new Soroptimist International Gender Medicine Working Group, which "brings together expertise in medicine, pharmacy, health policy, governance and campaign communications, with members drawn from Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America."

FROM SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL__Karen L. Kier is a pharmacist, educator, researcher and leader whose four-decade career spans pharmacy education, pharmacy practice, drug and health information, and public health. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Ohio Northern University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacy Administration and Public Health from The Ohio State University. A board-certified Pharmacotherapy Specialist and Ambulatory Care Pharmacist, she also holds certifications in evidence-based medicine and pharmacogenomics. Her interests include women’s health, pregnancy and lactation, menopause, infertility, cognitive decline, health care deserts and health misinformation.

Karen served for 40 years as Professor of Pharmacy and Director of Drug and Health Information at Ohio Northern University’s Raabe College of Pharmacy, and works with medically underserved patients through the ONU HealthWise mobile clinics. Her scholarly contributions include more than 60 research publications and eight textbooks, and she continues to advance public understanding of health through weekly newspaper columns. She is an active member of SIA Midwestern Region through her SI Kenton/Hardin County Ohio club.

“Gender-specific medicine asks us to recognize that gender matters when making health decisions—not only in reproductive health, but in how diseases develop, how symptoms present, and how patients respond to treatment including medicines. In general, there is a lack of sufficient evidence for therapies that specifically apply to women. I hope to work with SI and the Global Working Group on Gender Medicine to promote and advocate for women and their health, so we can invoke change!”

Meet the other group members here.