UIC menopause research highlighted during visit from Jill Biden
Half of the population on the planet will go through menopause. Yet scientists do not have a clear understanding of what, exactly, happens to women during this time of their life.
“Shouldn’t we have a firm scientific understanding of what happens to women’s bodies, what happens to their brains?” said Pauline Maki, who researches menopause at the University of Illinois Chicago. “Because without that, we can’t give women the personalized care that they need.”
Maki, a professor of psychiatry, psychology and obstetrics and gynecology in the College of Medicine, spoke during a recent visit from First Lady Jill Biden and actress Halle Berry, who came to promote the new White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Maki’s research focuses on menopause and cognition.
Biden, Berry and Maki were joined at a roundtable discussion at UIC’s Surgical Innovation and Training Laboratory by UIC PhD students Alexandra Paget Blanc and Rachel Schroeder, along with U.S. Reps. Lauren Underwood and Robin Kelly, and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Maki and her team later gave Biden and Berry a demonstration of how they conduct their research.
Read more about Maki’s research:
- First-ever guidelines for detecting, treating perimenopausal depression
- Study looks at menopause, cognitive function in women of color, including women with HIV
- Women perform better than men on memory tests for Alzheimer’s
