Pauline Maki

Pauline Maki

Pauline Maki, PhD, is the director of the UIC Center for Health, Awareness, and Research on Menopause (CHARM). She is also a professor of psychiatry, psychology and obstetrics and gynecology at UIC’s College of Medicine. For the past 25 years, she has been leading an internationally recognized program of NIH-funded clinical research on the effects of menopause and menopause treatments (hormone therapy, FDA-approved nonhormonal therapies and botanicals) on the female brain. Her work employs state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques and focuses on common menopause symptoms such as brain fog, sleep disturbance, hot flashes and low mental well-being.

Her research demonstrated that the mental fog of menopause is real but not universal, and it is due not only to hormonal changes but also to menopause symptoms. She discovered the association between hot flashes and memory problems and led the first study of hormone therapy effects on the female brain. Her clinical trial work demonstrated that hormone therapy is safe but not effective in treating cognitive difficulties in early postmenopausal women without bothersome hot flashes.

Maki is an international advocate for advancing provider education, expanding research, increasing patient awareness, and advancing health equity in menopause. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Alliance on Women’s Health and Care Delivery Consortium, past president of The Menopause Society and an executive and board member of The International Menopause Society.

SparkTalks: Pauline Maki (video)

Media Mentions

What Does Estrogen Do in the Brain? A Lot More Than You Might Realize
Self

Halle Berry and doctors talk stages and symptoms of menopause
Good Morning America