Irene O. Aninye, PhD, is the Chief Science Officer at the Society for Women’s Health Research, where she steers their portfolio of science programs to increase investment in research on biological sex differences and awareness of health conditions and diseases that disproportionately or uniquely affect women. Aninye’s research background is in endocrinology and metabolism – investigating sex steroid hormones and their receptor-mediated actions in development, reproduction, and disease.

With a passion to diversify the face of STEM and increase equity and involvement of underrepresented groups in the sciences, Aninye mentors early career scholars, provides scientific and leadership development training across all career stages, and has served on advisory boards and committees for organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, National Health Council, Endocrine Society, and Johns Hopkins University. A Washington, DC, native, Irene earned her BS in Biochemistry as a Meyerhoff Scholar at UMBC and a PhD in Molecular and Integrative Physiology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.