Center for Young Women's Health

The Center for Young Women’s Health (CYWH) is a partnership between the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine and the Division of Gynecology, at Boston Children’s Hospital. The Center is an educational entity that is committed to providing teen girls and young women with carefully researched health information, educational programs, and conferences. The mission of our website is to help teen girls, their parents, educators, and health care providers improve their understanding of normal health and development, as well as of specific diseases and conditions. We want to empower teen girls and young women around the world to take an active role in their own health care.

The Center was founded in 1998 by Co-Directors Dr. S. Jean Emans, Chief Emeritus of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Dr. Marc R. Laufer, Chief of Gynecology, and Phaedra Thomas, RN, BSN, Nurse Educator, who recognized an urgent need for education, clinical care, research, and health care advocacy for teen girls and young women around the globe. All three have earned national and international recognition for their expertise, commitment, and accomplishments in the area of young women’s health. Phaedra Thomas also has extensive experience in developing patient education materials and programs.