Transforming Women’s Health: Expanding Menopause Care Globally

One billion women worldwide are navigating menopause, yet it remains the most neglected area of women’s health.

University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)International  Menopause Society (IMS) / Council of Affiliated Menopause Societies (CAMS), and rē•spin are on a mission to transform women’s health worldwide. Together, we are expanding access to quality menopause care, evidence-based information, and digital health tools for assessing and managing menopause.

Achieving lasting impact requires a diversified, comprehensive approach—only through our synergy of expertise, innovation, and global reach can we drive the transformational change needed to improve mid-life women’s health worldwide.

Menopause isn’t just a phase to endure—it’s a critical health milestone that demands more attention.

Daughter hugging her mum

UIC, IMS, and rē•spin are committed to transforming women’s health globally by addressing menopause with a bold vision for change, including:

  • Expanding the Focus for Women’s Health: By creating greater attention and awareness about menopause, a critical health transition for mid-life women, we will expand opportunities for care beyond a sole focus on fertility and maternity, to ensure coverage of a woman’s full lifespan and better overall health outcomes.
  • Enhancing Menopause Care: By providing comprehensive information and increasing the availability of quality menopause care worldwide, we will empower women with the resources they need to make informed health decisions and manage their symptoms effectively.
  • Improving Health and Productivity: By supporting effective management of women’s menopause symptoms, we will reduce osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and Alzheimer’s; shorten downtime and enhance productivity in the workplace; and decrease overall healthcare costs through better monitoring and early treatment of chronic diseases.
Actress Halle Berry, center, Dr. Pauline Maki, rear, and first lady Jill Biden, rear right, watch as Alexandra Paget Blanc, Graduate Student at UIC runs a mock test with Tracy Weems, left, executive assistant to the Dean, University of Illinois College of Medicine, at the University of Illinois Chicago Illinois Neuropsychiatric Institute, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, in Chicago. Biden participated in a roundtable and toured the facilities to highlight the importance of research in women's health.
  • Double the number of current providers trained via IMS’s Professional Activity for Refresher Training (IMPART) —a globally successful training on menopause—by including courses for primary care physicians, nurses, and community healthcare workers in dozens of languages, extending to many more countries where the need is greatest.
  • Embed state-of-the-art menopause education into U.S. and global medical curricula, ensuring all future healthcare providers are equipped with up-to-date knowledge and treatment options for menopause care and understand the linkages to chronic disease risks, informing an integrated care approach.
  • Empower women through dissemination of information and digital menopause health tools, allowing them to address symptoms, understand health risks, and make informed treatment choices.
  • Through demonstration projects, deliver essential care to women via community-based menopause services in underserved rural and urban Illinois, including Southside Chicago, as well as in global sites in India, South Africa, and additional countries.
  • Leverage our partnerships, growing awareness, and momentum to embed menopause care in global health policies, spurring philanthropic investments and integration within national healthcare systems.
Group of Women

UIC stands at the forefront of innovation with a proven dedication to health equity and a track record of excellence in medical education, public health, and advanced technologies, making us uniquely equipped to take on this challenge.

Distinctive project components driven by UIC’s strengths include:

Menopause Data Visualization Portal

The Population Health Analytics, Metrics, and Evaluation (PHAME) Center at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) School of Public Health will play a critical role in helping to visualize the current state of menopause care globally. Based on its acclaimed Chicago Health Atlas, which helps citizens explore and compare health-related data over time and across communities, the PHAME Center will create a user-friendly, digital menopause health portal leveraging global data sources to measure indicators such as life expectancy, non-communicable diseases, menopause systems, healthcare utilization, and economic impacts. This unique public health tool will democratize global menopause data, allowing women and policymakers everywhere to see menopause impacts and trends in their area as well as changes over time during the course of our project.

What We Say/Don’t Say About Menopause

At the intersection of advanced technology and health equity, UIC’s AI.Health4All Center is pioneering AI and machine learning innovations to advance healthcare, especially for marginalized populations.

AI.Health4All will use Large Language Models and AI to collect and analyze global menopause narratives, creating multilingual resources and a regional-specific shared “language” for menopause that respects cultural contexts. From countries where women have no word for menopause, to the wide variety of ways women describe “hot flashes,” the Center will help address the need to provide women and healthcare workers with ways to communicate effectively about menopause across language, culture, and social norms.

Women looking at her phone

Customizable Menopause App

UIC tech experts will bundle evidence-based behavioral interventions – to help with mood, sleep disturbance, and hot flashes – into one web-based application. The menopause app will be customizable to a woman’s particular symptom concerns, language, and cultural context and it will be fully accessible to those with visual, auditory, and/or cognitive disabilities.

Innovative Menopause Curricula

The Department of Medical Education (DME) at University of Illinois College of Medicine is the oldest, continuously operating department of medical education in the world. DME pioneered the science of teaching and education for medicine and developed the first global framework for medical competency-based education.

DME will develop and launch a competency-based menopause curriculum, beginning with an elective course at UIC, and utilize advanced technology to track how well healthcare professionals retain and apply this knowledge. Enhanced retention will lead to improved patient care and outcomes. Leveraging UIC’s strong partnerships and unique data agreements with medical associations, we will integrate this curriculum into medical education both nationally and globally.

Achieving lasting impact requires a diversified, comprehensive approach, making our partnership essential — only through our synergy of expertise, innovation, and global reach can we drive the transformational change needed to improve mid-life women’s health worldwide.

As a partner of the World Economic Forum’s Global Alliance for Women’s Health, we are also contributing valuable global data on menopause health indicators and collaborating to increase awareness and drive advocacy for inclusion of menopause care in policy.

  • Pauline Maki, PhD

    Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and OB/GYN, University of Illinois College of Medicine, UIC

    Dr. Maki brings over 25 years of expertise in menopause research and care. Our Department of Medical Education is renowned for its innovative medical training programs, including the development of a pioneering medical curriculum integrating AI. The revolutionary, award-winning Chicago Health Atlas showcases our strength in health data visualization and equitable data sharing, while our AIHealth4All Center faculty have proven success in leveraging AI to advance health equity.

    Watch: Dr. Maki discusses rē•spin with Halle Berry on Good Morning America

  • Rebecca Cheshire

    CEO of the International Menopause Society (IMS)

    With over 25 years of executive leadership in the non-profit health and social care sector, Rebecca is a driving force behind global efforts to advance women’s health. As the leader of IMS, she spearheads the development and worldwide dissemination of education on menopause and midlife women’s health. Rebecca’s expertise spans strategic planning, international program development, and government policy lobbying. Her influence has reached the highest levels, collaborating with King Charles III, UK Prime Ministers, and the Mayor of London to shape health and social care policies. She has also served as a peer reviewer for the UK Home Office.

  • Duru Shah, MD

    Chair, Council of Affiliated Menopause Societies (CAMS), IMS; Director, Gynaecworld

    Dr. Shah is a renowned Mumbai-based gynecologist and women’s rights activist who has dedicated her life to advancing women’s health and well-being. As Chair of CAMS at IMS, she passionately advocates for menopausal health, spotlighting the critical and often-overlooked issue of premature menopause. Her groundbreaking study in Maharashtra’s Latur District, published in Maturitas, highlights the urgent need for preventive healthcare in peri- and post-menopausal women. A relentless advocate for women’s empowerment, her impactful initiatives have gained the endorsement of the Indian Ministry of Health and have been incorporated into national health policies.

To learn more about 1Billion&theChange and our global impact, contact Kristie DeKoker, Associate Vice Chancellor for Advancement, at kdekoker@uic.edu.