Deadline for submission: March 01, 2023
Article type: Research Articles, Review Articles, Clinical and Case Reports
Women’s health encompasses all physiologic and pathologic changes that occur in the female reproductive organs and supporting structures, diseases that disproportionately affect women (e.g., cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, lipedema), and the study of diseases that affect women differently than men (e.g., cervical/ vaginal infections). Women’s health is an important yet largely understudied area of research, with many challenging and unsolved problems for biomedical engineers. Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes benign and malignant infections of the anogenital tract. Cervical cancer, caused by high-risk HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 45, 56, and 58, is the second most common cancer in women and the fifth most common cancer overall. Biomechanics of female reproductive organs, tissues, and cells is increasingly recognized as being crucial for women’s gynecologic, reproductive, and sexual health care. New experimental, computational, and theoretical methods are being developed to prevent pregnancy-related morbidities and treat pelvic floor disorders. The field of tissue engineering is rapidly evolving to create novel fertility treatments and options, repair of degenerated or damaged tissues, and complex in vitro models that recapitulate the tumor microenvironment in female-related cancers (e.g., cervical, ovarian, and breast cancers). The diversity in engineering applications and techniques being developed to uniquely address health issues affecting women over their lifespan is increasing at a fast pace. Building upon recent publications in the Materials Chemistry Horizon, this special issue will expand on the biology and pathology of reproductive organs and their supporting structures, structural organization of pelvic organs and tissues, and their functional alterations with aging and prolapse, and female-related cancers. In addition, in this special issue, recent advancements in preventing HPV-dependent infections and cervical cancer will be discussed.
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