Menopause is a nearly universal life transition for anyone assigned female at birth. Yet, research into people’s experience of menopause, including their symptoms, and available treatments, remains sparse.
As October is Menopause Awareness Month, WHRI is proud to showcase the work being done by our institute and by our partners and investigators to illuminate the mechanisms behind the menopause transition, shed light on a stigmatized stage of life for women, and help improve care, treatment, and support for people as they undergo this transition.
Mapping Menopause was a project co-led through the WHRI (Dr. Lori Brotto) and BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre (Dr. Stephanie Rhone, Dr. Stephanie Fisher) to enable the identification and prioritization of menopause knowledge gaps that need to be addressed.
Released on June 4, 2026, the Better Aging in BC: Mapping Menopause Research Priorities report includes a four-page Executive Summary, as well as a Research Agenda outlining the top 10 priorities for menopause research in BC and ecosystem considerations to enable success.
The Women’s Health Research Institute, in partnership with Pacific Blue Cross and the BC Women’s Health Foundation, investigated the physical and psychological health experiences of midlife women in BC. Focused on the transitions related to menopause, the HER-BC Study asked participants about symptoms, and impacts to daily living, quality of life, work productivity and caregiving responsibilities.
Investing in Matriarchal Power, Access, Care, and Traditional wellness (IMPACT) is an Indigenous-led, community-based research project dedicated to transforming Indigenous women’s health and menopause care by centering Matriarchal wisdom, Indigenous knowledge systems, and traditional wellness. Conducted by researchers within the Indigenous Equity Lab, IMPACT responds to long-standing gaps in culturally safe women’s health and menopause care.
On September 11, 2026, the WHRI welcomed Professor Susan Davis, AO, from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia for a research talk discussing the findings from the AMY study, a nationally representative study of Australian women aged 40 to 69 years, which sought to understand the experience of peri-, pre-, and post-menopause. The study collected data on symptoms the interventions that women were seeking or taking in relation to menopause and mood changes, as well as the prevalence of sexual concerns, using a questionnaire applicable to all women. This hybrid talk was recorded live and is available on our YouTube channel.
Shirley Weir, a long-time WHRI partner who collaborated with the WHRI on the HER-BC and Mapping Menopause studies, supports knowledge generation and translation in this area through her organization Menopause Chicks. Check out their website to learn more.
Dr. Klingberg-Allvin delivered an illuminating talk on the life course perspective of menopause for an edition of our BC Women’s Research Rounds series in September 2025.
BC Women’s Health Foundation offers a Menopause + Midlife webinar series in partnership with BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre. Check out their website to explore the series and learn more about menopause and midlife health.