President Emerita and MSU Research Foundation Professor | Michigan State University
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and Department of Biomedical Engineering
As improved cancer therapies have dramatically improved survival rates and quality of life, they have also caused impaired reproductive function for young people who survive cancer. Oncofertility — a term coined by Dr. Woodruff — is a new field that bridges oncology, reproduction, and women’s health research in order to expand options and provide hope for the reproductive future of cancer patients.
In this keynote address, you’ll hear the story of how Dr. Woodruff’s research efforts in ovarian follicle culture led her to think about potential applications of the technology —specifically, how it could be used to help young women with fertility threatening conditions or undergoing gonadotoxic treatments. You’ll also learn about the progress made by the Oncofertility Consortium, an interdisciplinary team formed by Dr. Woodruff and colleagues that is dedicated to the clinical care of women at risk of losing their fertility because of cancer treatment. Additionally, Dr. Woodruff will discuss the National Physicians Cooperative (NPC), a group that facilitates sharing of fertility preservation protocols and techniques between reproductive endocrinology practices.
Teresa K. Woodruff, Ph.D. is an internationally recognized biologist specializing in reproductive science. Dr. Woodruff is President Emerita of Michigan State University (MSU) and MSU Research Foundation Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology and the Department of Biomedical Engineering. In 2006, she coined the term “oncofertility” to describe the merging of two fields: oncology and fertility preservation. Dr. Woodruff championed the National Institutes of Health policy mandating the inclusion of both male and female biological variables in fundamental research.
Dr. Woodruff was awarded the National Medal of Science by President Joe Biden (2025) and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring by President Barack Obama (2011). She is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2020), the National Academy of Medicine (2018),the National Academy of Inventors (2018), the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering (2017), the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (2017), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2006).
President, Head of Therapeutics R&D and Chief Strategy Officer, Partnerships at Schrödinger, Inc.
Computational drug design is revolutionizing the development of small molecule inhibitors that act as “off switches” for oncology and immunology diseases. Dr. Akinsanya will discuss how Schrödinger’s advanced computational platform enables systematic approaches to designing highly differentiated therapeutics that target disease pathways with precision. This keynote address will cover methodologies for iteratively refining molecular structures to optimize potency, selectivity, and drug-like properties; as well as strategies for intelligently combining multiple inhibitors to address complex disease mechanisms.
The talk will also include a discussion of how integration of structure-based design, machine learning, and molecular dynamics simulations enables the identification of next-generation therapeutics that offer improved efficacy and safety profiles. Through real-life examples and practical applications — including case studies in cancer and immune-mediated disorders — Dr. Akinsanya will illustrate how computational approaches accelerate the path from target identification to clinical candidates, with the goals of ultimately helping patients achieve remission.
Karen Akinsanya, Ph.D., leads Schrödinger, Inc.’s therapeutics research and development organization. She is also responsible for therapeutics business development, ventures strategy, and outreach; as well as growth initiatives that leverage synergies between the company’s therapeutics and software businesses. She has more than 30 years of experience spanning academia, pharmaceutical R&D, and business development. Dr. Akinsanya joined Merck Research Labs in 2005 and held positions of increasing responsibility in clinical pharmacology, development team leadership in early clinical development, a role as a therapeutic area head and a search and evaluation lead in business development. She received her Ph.D. from the Royal Postgraduate Medical School at Imperial College in London, in endocrine physiology. After post-doctoral training at Imperial and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (UCL), Dr. Akinsanya held several R&D roles at Ferring Pharmaceuticals in the UK and US.