The Gloria Sarto Reproductive Health Equity Symposium (formerly the Women's Health and Health Equity Research Lecture & Symposium) is an annual meeting that connects healthcare professionals, researchers, and community advocates dedicated to advancing reproductive health equity.
Gloria Sarto Reproductive Health Equity Symposium
Keynote Presenter:
Camille Clare, MD, MPH
ACOG President-Elect
Vice Chair of Faculty Mentorship and Community Engagement and Outreach, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Submit a Brief & Brilliant Talk
The Sarto Symposium's Brief & Brilliant (B&B) talks are TEDx-style presentations that translate reproductive health equity research in pithy, accessible, and compelling ways. B&B talks are a fabulous way to reach an attentive audience with the public health importance of your work.
Five scholars will be selected to each give a 5-minute lightning talk, highlighting an idea from their area of work that is particularly important, relevant, or intriguing. The goal is to emphasize the main takeaways of your project rather than its methodological details. (Watch last year's B&B talks here).
The B&B talks will be in person at the HSLC on Thursday, October 22, 2026, starting at 7:40am.
Please submit your B&B talk proposal by Monday, July 13 at 11:59pm. Late submissions will not be accepted.
Selection Process:
B&B talk proposals will be evaluated by members of the Sarto Symposium Planning Committee. Successful proposals will:
- Align with reproductive health equity
- Deepen audience understanding of a particular research or quality improvement effort
- Offer fresh insight and relevant information through the combination of words and visuals
- Effectively communicate messages to a variety of audience members
All reproductive health professionals are welcome to submit, including students, researchers, residents/postdocs/fellows, clinicians, and community members.
Submitters must be affiliated with UW-Madison or are collaborating with the Madison community.
Presenters chosen for B&B talks will be notified by August 7, 2026.
History of the Symposium:
This event, formerly known as the UW Women’s Health and Health Equity Research Lecture and Symposium, grew out of the pioneering vision of Dr. Gloria Sarto and Dr. Gloria Johnson-Powell.
In 2003, Dr. Johnson-Powell and Dr. Sarto received NIH funding to establish a comprehensive center to investigate the role of biological and social factors on disparate health outcomes, primarily among minority ethnic and racial populations. The first Symposium was held in 2005.
Dr. Gloria Johnson-Powell (1936-2017), the first African-American female professor at Harvard, joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty in 2001 as Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, Associate Dean for Cultural Diversity, and Director of the Center for Cultural Diversity and Health Care. Dr. Johnson-Powell had remarkable influence in highlighting the importance of social equality as it impacts health equality. She labored all her life to seek equality for all, through her research, writings, and work within communities.
Dr. Gloria Sarto (1929-2024) championed the health of women in innumerable ways throughout her professional career. As a physician, she personally treated many women and delivered their babies; as a department chair, she taught and mentored many students, residents, and young faculty; and as a national voice for women’s health, she had tremendous influence public policy, educational curricula, and national research initiatives.
Dr. Sarto passed away on June 8, 2024. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Symposium and honor Dr. Sarto’s immeasurable impact as an advocate for health equity, the event was re-named the Gloria Sarto Reproductive Health Equity Symposium in 2024.
Past Symposium Keynote Speakers:
- 2025: Karen Sheffield-Abdullah, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM (video)
- 2024: Charlotte Gamble, MD, MPH (video)
- 2023: Denise Howard, MD, MPH (video)
- 2022: Vanessa Northington Gamble, MD, PhD (video)
- 2021: Elizabeth Howell, MD (video)
- 2020: Erica Marsh, MD (video)
- 2019: Tiffany Green, PhD (video)
- 2018: Sheri Johnson, PhD
- 2017: Haywood Brown, MD (video)
- 2016: Melissa Gilliam MD, MPH (video)
- 2015: Florence Haseltine, MD, PhD
- 2014: David Grimes, MD, FACOG, FACPM (video)
- 2013: Vivian Pinn, MD (video)