At Northwestern University, Woodruff led a highly collaborative effort that resulted in the development of a hydrogel that acts as a 3-dimensional support system for encapsulated in vitro culture of the ovarian follicle and its enclosed maturing oocyte (eIVFG). Live births in mice resulted from these studies, and this work was named as he most important breakthrough of the decade 1998-2008 by Nature Medicine. eIVFG methods were subsequently used to develop and test a microfluidic system that supports 28-day reproductive cycles ex vivo—an "ovarian cycle in a dish."[5] On March 28, 2017, her team announced the creation of Evatar, a miniaturized female reproductive tract composed of ovarian follicles or intact ovaries (mouse) interconnected with human explants from fallopian tubes, uterus, and cervix with liver organoids to provide a metabolic management tissue system.[6][7] Woodruff and team also recently created decellularized and 3D-printed ovarian bioprosthetics as replacement organs for women who have lost gonadal function.[8] The development of an ovarian bioprosthetic was named as one of Discover magazine's 100 most important discoveries of 2018,[9] and was recognized as a top five medical breakthrough by the Chinese Academy of Science. Her work to bridge the basic sciences and medicine was recognized with a Halo Award in 2018.[10]