Former Endocrine Society president Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD, joined an elite group of Americans who have received two national medals of honor when President Joe Biden presented her with the National Medal of Science at a White House ceremony held Jan. 3.
Woodruff was also awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring by President Barack Obama in an Oval Office ceremony in 2011.
Woodruff has made significant global contributions in scientific research, improvements to the scientific process and broadening of research teams. Woodruff is an MSU Research Foundation Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at MSU College of Human Medicine and the Department of Biomedical Engineering at MSU’s College of Engineering. She was named provost of MSU in August 2020 and served as the university’s interim president from 2022-2024.
Woodruff served as president of the Endocrine Society from 2013 to 2014, and as editor-in-chief of Endocrinology. In 2021, Woodruff received the Endocrine Society’s Gerald D. Aurbach Laureate Award for Outstanding Translational Research for “seminal discoveries about gonadal structure, function, and hormones, as well as female fertility and its regulation.”
Woodruff created an entirely new field of science — oncofertility — that combines oncology and reproductive health. And she has rallied to include more women in the scientific process, leading to awards for mentorship. She is now one of the world’s leading fertility experts.
“I’m humbled to receive this award,” Woodruff said. “I have had the honor and pleasure to work with so many students and collaborators throughout my career. My fundamental belief is science should help tomorrow’s patients be treated better than today’s. This means we need to take our discoveries and turn them toward patient needs. And that includes broadening the pipeline of researchers in the field, advancing our discoveries from the bench to the bedside, and expanding the corridors of communication between physician groups and others who are in healthcare.”
Woodruff’s scientific work is focused on the female reproductive system. She has made breakthroughs in molecular science, reproductive medicine and cancer research. Three independent discoveries from her lab have been cited as “Discoveries of the Year” by Discover magazine and one by the Chinese Academy of Medicine. She has more than 30 years of experience in leadership roles, including interim president at Michigan State University.
Curiosity, Intuition Led to New Science
Woodruff started her lab in 1995 at Northwestern University where she completed graduate studies. In 2002, she was named associate director for basic research of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. One patient stands out in her mind, an adolescent boy with cancer who was brought in by his mother because she wanted to bank his sperm.
“That was really interesting because no one was talking about how to support cancer patients’ fertility,” Woodruff said. “I wondered what we were doing for young women who had cancer and was told that it was more important for the girls and young women to focus on their cancer care. That was a light bulb moment for me. I thought that all young cancer patients should have a future of fertility because we treat them with hope for their survival.”
Woodruff went on to apply her discoveries in reproductive science to the newly termed field of “oncofertility.” This work has helped thousands of people around the world maintain and protect their fertility. She also established the Oncofertility Consortium, an international interdisciplinary initiative of roughly 1,400 members that supports the reproductive future of young cancer survivors.
“I can’t get away from the reproductive problems and fundamental questions that remain,” Woodruff said. “Reproductive science is an understudied field, so you must be somewhat fearless and willing to take bold steps to make a difference in people’s lives.”
Additional discoveries by Woodruff and her collaborator, MSU Research Foundation Professor Thomas O’Halloran, include the “zinc spark,” which is a key indicator of successful human egg fertilization and possible embryo quality. This research enabled a new understanding of the earliest stages of human development and could lead to improved techniques for in vitro fertilization. It was named No. 47 in the Top 100 Discoveries of 2016 by Discover magazine.
Mentoring and Teaching to Benefit Future Generations
Woodruff also has worked to ensure that scientists consider sex as a biological factor in research and clinical trials and led the charge to mandate the inclusion of females in National Institutes of Health, or NIH, research protocols.
“While I was working at a biotech firm after graduate school, I was surprised to learn that the first studies for a new heart attack and stroke treatment included data on thousands of men but not a single woman, even though biological sex can determine the outcome with many pharmaceuticals,” Woodruff said. “I worked to get the NIH to include women in all research studies, and that’s how we do things today.”
She has trained 37 postdocs, 28 graduate students, 14 master’s students, 30 undergraduate students, 32 research technicians and more than 200 summer students over the course of her career. Those students have gone on to influence others, and Woodruff says she even has a fourth generation “great grand student.” Her protégées are now leading faculty at Baylor, Northwestern University, Rutgers and others.
“My students have driven me from one problem set to the next,” she said. “I think it’s knowing what question to ask that captures the imagination of a new student who wants to study something that nobody else knows. Science reveals itself in iterative ways and there is no right or wrong to the outcomes of a well-designed experiment. I am deeply appreciative of my students and collaborators. This award also recognizes their work and dedication to the scientific process and reproductive health of the population.”
At Michigan State University, Woodruff continues to look for new ways to address the questions that are still out there and is active in her lab and the classroom.
Woodruff holds 19 U.S. patents and has one pending. She is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is also a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.
She earned a doctorate in biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology from Northwestern University and holds a bachelor of science in zoology and chemistry from Olivet Nazarene University. Woodruff holds honorary degrees from Bates College and the University of Birmingham’s College of Medical and Dental Sciences in the UK. Before joining MSU in 2020, she served as dean and associate provost for graduate education in the Graduate School at Northwestern University.
For 65 years, the president of the United States has bestowed the National Medal of Science on those deserving of special recognition for their outstanding contributions to science in service to the United States. This medal was established by Congress in 1959 and is administered by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Since it was first awarded in 1985, the National Medal of Technology and Innovation has recognized American innovators whose vision, intellect, creativity, and determination have strengthened America’s economy and improved our quality of life. The medal was established by Congress in 1980 and is administered by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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