Myths of Menopause

Dr Nicky Keay (Editor)

www.nickykeayfitness.com www.linkedin.com/in/nickykeay @drnickykeay
Dr Nicky Keay is a medical doctor with specialist expertise in the field of exercise endocrinology. Her research into the impacts of lifestyle, nutrition and exercise on hormone networks has been published in peer-reviewed journals. She is the author of “Hormones, Health and Human Potential”. Nicky holds the position of Honorary Clinical Lecturer in the Division of Medicine, University College London. Nicky’s clinical endocrine work is particularly with women experiencing perimenopause and menopause and all ages of exerciser, dancers and athletes, with a focus on relative energy deficiency in sport (REDs). Nicky’s passion and objective is to provide a more personalised approach for female hormone health to optimise the overall health and performance of the individual. Nicky is medical advisor to Scottish Ballet and a keen ballet dancer.
Nicky studied medicine at Cambridge University. After gaining Membership of the Royal College of Physicians, London UK, Nicky worked as a Research Fellow at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, where she was part of the international medical team that developed an anti-doping test for growth hormone. Nicky is a member of the British Menopause Society (BMS) and has completed the BMS Principles and Practice of Menopause Care training programme. Nicky is currently working with colleagues at University College London, backed by leading women’s health organisations, to develop a UK menopause support programme.

Anna Allerton

Anna Allerton is a former Sports Journalist and TV Producer of 17-years. She founded and produced the Sportswomen programme for Sky and was a pioneer and campaigner for women in sport. She now runs an Executive Coaching & Consultancy business that specialises in supporting professional women to grow and thrive in careers during midlife. She developed her own Work Smarter in Menopause® coaching model following her own experience of perimenopause at the age of 38 and campaigns to elevate the voices of women under 40 experiencing menopause.

Ally Atkins

www.allyatkinsfitness.com @allyatkinsfitness
Ally (Alexandra) Atkins is a personal trainer and functional mobility specialist and is passionate about the benefits of exercise for women's health. Having overcome her own health challenges in her late 30's, Ally has a deep understanding of the huge potential for change that is available with the right direction. Ally brings a fresh perspective to the fitness world, championing the importance of exercise and strength for women whilst being understanding and supportive. Whether it's conquering health hurdles or unlocking newfound strength, the routines Ally puts together help guide women towards a healthier, more vibrant future.

Norah Bahhar

Nora Bahhar is a Trainee Clinical Psychologist at University College London and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, set to complete her training in 2025. With experience in various NHS settings and research collaborations with London universities, she is also a member of the “Menopause Mind Lab” at UCL. Nora's clinical and research interests center on policy and the mental health of women, particularly those who are marginalised and facing systemic barriers. Her doctoral thesis explores the predictors of psychological symptoms in midlife women, aiming to enhance understanding of mental health during menopause. Nora aspires to specialise in women's and sexual health, continuing her engagement with the community through both research and clinical practice.

Christien Bird

After training in the Netherlands, Christien Bird worked with musculoskeletal and women’s health outpatients at Central Middlesex Hospital, London, until 1995. She also worked with the clinical research team at Brunel University London. After gaining her Master’s degree in research methods at King’s College London, Christien founded the White Hart Clinic in Barnes in 1995, a busy multidisciplinary practice that offers musculoskeletal, pelvic health, psychological and medical services. Christien is the co-founder of the Menopause Movement online certified training and community platform for health and fitness professionals. She loves everything about movement, continues to compete as an age-group triathlete representing Great Britain. Much of her drive is supporting women in enjoying movement and staying strong.

Dr Richard Blagrove

Richard is a Senior Lecturer in Physiology and Programme Leader of the MSc Strength and Conditioning (S&C) at Loughborough University. Richard is a UKSCA Accredited S&C Coach and Certified S&C Specialist with the NSCA. He has provided coaching support to athletes of all ages for almost 20 years, including Olympic and Paralympic finalists. Richards current research investigates issues relating to performance and health in endurance runners, including physiological determinants of performance, the use of strength-based exercise, prevention of injury, and recovery from the Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport syndrome.

Lara Briden

Lara Briden is a naturopathic doctor with a focus on women's health. She has consulting rooms in Christchurch, New Zealand and is the author of the popular books Period Repair Manual, Hormone Repair Manual, and Metabolism Repair for Women.

Dr Gillian Campbell

After qualifying in 1995 from University College London, Gillian Campbell moved to Derbyshire. She completed her PhD investigating strain in tendons at the University of Nottingham in 2011 and is currently employed there as a post-doctoral research fellow funded by the School of Primary Care Research. Her research interests are pelvic floor disorders in athletic women and barriers to seeking help for pelvic floor symptoms for ALL women. She has continued to work clinically throughout her academic career, treating both musculoskeletal and pelvic health patients at Ashbourne Physiotherapy and Sports Injuries centre, where she sees both private patients and NHS referrals. She is the current Vice-chair of the Pelvic Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy group (a professional network for physiotherapist in pelvic health). Her passion for sport and exercise began at university, competing for Scotland as a lightweight rower and sculler. More recently she has moved on land and onto her bike where she still competes regularly in veteran time trials.

Nikki Crane

With a background in dance, Nikki has over thirty years’ experience working in the arts, combining experience as a practitioner with leadership roles in strategy and funding. Nikki led the development of Arts Council England's first national strategies for Arts & Criminal Justice and Arts & Health and as Head of Arts Strategy at Guy's & St Thomas' Charity, developed an evidence-based portfolio of arts & health programmes building partnerships between clinicians, academics, arts organisations & local health commissioners. Nikki is now lead for Creative Health at King's College London including supporting the development and delivery of 'SHAPER' (Scaling-up Health-Arts Programmes: Implementation and Effectiveness Research), the world’s largest study into the impact of the arts on physical and mental health, supported by a £2.5 million award from Welcome Trust.

Dr Helen Donovan

Dr Helen Donovan is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with over thirty years of experience working in NHS and other public sector services, including developing and leading adult and older adult psychological services and combining roles as a clinician, trainer, manager, supervisor and researcher. In recent years, Helen’s own challenges of the perimenopause led her to become interested in psychological adjustment and approaches to support wellbeing during the menopause transition, with a particular interest in adapting compassion-based approaches for this life stage. She now works primarily in private practice and is also working in partnership with University College London in the ‘Menopause Mind Lab’.

Dr Tamara Dragadze

Tamara Dragadze is a British born anthropologist with Georgian ancestry. She is the author of more than 50 academic publications and taught and researched in several British universities. She has also published fiction. Starting ballet at the age of three, she left it for thirty years after the age of twenty when she learned she was not the right shape to be a professional dancer. For her 50th birthday, however, she took up classical ballet again and has never looked back and trains four times a week.

Dinah Hampson

dinahhampson.com @dinahhampson @pivotdancer
Dinah Hampson is a physiotherapist who is passionate about enjoying life and using her knowledge to promote high performance in others. Dinah holds many certifications including the Sport Physio Diploma and International Sports Physiotherapist qualification, the Diploma of Manual & Manipulative Therapy and Pelvic Health Physiotherapy. Dinah is the Founder of Pivot Sport Medicine, a multidisciplinary clinic in Toronto, Canada and Pivot Dancer, a virtual dance injury prevention platform with worldwide membership. Dinah has been on the Canadian medical team for over 15 multisport games, including the Olympics, Youth Olympics, Paralympic, Pan American, World University and Commonwealth Games. Dinah trained in classical ballet and brings a technical eye to her treatment of dancers and artistic athletes. Dinah works regularly with professional dancers from companies such as the National Ballet of Canada, Joffrey Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Singapore Ballet and, Cirque du Soleil. Dinah is active in dance science research and is a regular conference presenter.

Tenille Hoogland

Tenille Hoogland's mission is to transform how female athletes experience sport and reach life-long health and athletic excellence. Her life has centred around sport. She began elite sport as a synchronized swimmer, then in her late 20’s became a professional triathlete, representing Canada in various championships. Professionally, Tenille was a Senior Planner at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Federal Secretariat, managed numerous IRONMAN events, held a management position at Triathlon Canada and was recognized by her national federation and Canadian Olympic Committee as a Future Sport Leader. Collectively the challenges she faced in sport personally and professionally led her to create the Mindset, Nutrition, Training, and Recovery Integrated Training System (MNTR-ITS). Using this system she now coaches female athletes in perimenopause and beyond to thrive in sport for life and achieve personal excellence.

Professor Myra Hunter

Professor Myra Hunter is Emeritus Professor of Clinical Health Psychology at King’s College London, has worked as a clinician and researcher in the area of women’s health for over 30 years. She has developed and evaluated cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions for physical and emotional problems, in women’s health, oncology and cardiology. Her work has shown that CBT can effectively reduce the impact of menopausal symptoms on women’s lives. She has published over 200 journal articles and 10 books and her research on menopause has established her as an international expert in the field.

Dr Meena Khatwa

Dr Meena Khatwa is a Senior Research Fellow based at the UCL Social Research Institute, University College London. Her research interests are in social and health inequalities amongst marginalised communities, and she also teaches at postgraduate level on qualitative methods. She is a wellbeing champion and one of the co-leads for the UCL Menopause Network. Meena has been awarded grants to explore how women cope with menopause while juggling work and caring responsibilities, and a UCL Public Policy Fellowship with Newham London Borough Council that focuses on South Asian women’s mental health. In her spare time, she writes creative non-fiction and sings in an a cappella choir.

Dr Anne Latz

Dr. Anne Latz is a physician with a MSc in Business Administration and a doctoral degree in Neuroscience. Certified in Lifestyle Medicine and in Safety Quality Informatics and Leadership at Harvard Medical School, and with professional experience in the private and public sectors, she is an entrepreneur in health tech and health communication, in addition to her active medical practice in psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy. Engaged in numerous networks, she advocates for personalized prevention, health promotion and communication, and equitable and smart use of new technologies.

Renee McGregor

Renee is a leading Sports Dietitian and Eating Disorder Specialist with over 20 years of experience working in clinical and performance nutrition. Renee is passionate about working with individuals and athletes of all levels and ages and is the founder of Team Renee McGregor, managing a team of practitioners, in supporting health, sports performance and managing eating disorders and relative energy deficiency in sport. Renee is also a best-selling author, and her most recent book is “More Fuel”. When not working, Renee can be found running the mountains and chasing the trails. In 2022 she became British Trail Running Champion in her age group over the short course and 3rd female at The Spine Sprint. Last year she came 4th female and had a top 10 finish, racing in Upper Mustang, Nepal.

Dr Marzena Nieroda

Dr Marzena Nieroda is Assistant Professor of Marketing and Commercialisation for Healthcare and Deputy Director for Partnerships & Enterprise at UCL Global Business School for Health (GBSH). GBSH is a new institute at UCL established in 2021 to bring together business and health to facilitate health innovation and health system strengthening. Marzena explores person-centred co-creation approaches within health and wellbeing services and systems. Specifically, she explores wellbeing journeys people experience and co-create within a system, the role and acceptance of technology and mission-oriented innovation in wellbeing journeys and the role of partnerships and collaboration co-creation within health and wellbeing systems. She has contributed to research projects funded by Cancer Research UK, Greater Manchester Cancer Vanguard, the European Commission, Digitally Enhanced Advanced Services (DEAS), EPSRC, University College London, and the University of Manchester, working within the wider context of health promotion, digital inclusion and addressing health inequalities.

Nicole Oh

Nicole is a Sydney-born and trained Physiotherapist with 25 years of experience, spending 18 of those years working in the UK. For the past decade, Nicole has specialised in the treatment of cyclists, runners and triathletes She combines her cycling knowledge and Physiotherapy skills to offer bike fitting services for all levels of riders. Nicole has also written articles for the UK publication Cycling Weekly on topics in Physiotherapy, bike fitting, cycling injuries, performance and athlete health. Nicole has been a competitive cyclist since 2012, having made the switch from Triathlon. She has won National Masters titles in both the UK and Australia in a variety of disciplines. She continues to race at Elite level in Australia.

Dr Alyssa Olenik

Dr. Alyssa Olenick holds a PhD in Exercise Physiology is a certified sports nutritionist and Crossfit Level 2 Trainer. Alyssa completed her doctoral training in exercise and human metabolism, sex differences and menstrual cycle physiology. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow researching the areas of menopause and metabolism. As a coach she specializes in the areas of endurance, strength and hybrid training. She runs her online business ‘Doc Lyss Fitness’ and is a strength athlete, ultra-marathon runner, and all-around fitness lover who is passionate about educating people on science-based fitness to get them into the gyms and on the roads/trails — or often, doing both at the same time!

Professor Jerilynn Prior

Jerilynn C. Prior has been working for more than 45 years at the University of British Columbia Endocrinology as a healthcare provider, scientist and teacher. An award-winning Clinician-Scientist, she is known for her innovative concepts that value oestrogen-progesterone interplay as having the potential to transform and improve understanding and treatment of women’s reproductive-related issues. She founded the UBC Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research, CeMCOR, in 2002 and launched its informative website in 2003. Prior is an internationally recognized thought-leader on menstrual cycles, ovulation, perimenopause, menopause, and osteoporosis prevention. Dr. Prior grew up in Alaskan fishing villages, gained an honours MD from Boston University (in 1969) and became Canadian (in 1983) due to her belief in universal health care.

Rebekah Rotstein

Rebekah Rotstein is a leader for Pilates, bone health and movement education. She is the founder of Buff Bones®, a medically endorsed exercise method for bone and joint health with on-demand programming, online coaching, free public education webinars with UCLA Health and professional training for instructors worldwide.
A former ballet dancer, Rebekah worked as a student athletic trainer, before certifying in the Pilates method. Rebekah has presented at Pilates conferences, the International Osteoporosis Foundation Worldwide Conference and the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science. Rebekah is a member of the Ambassador Leadership Council for the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation and worked as a partner of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women’s Health. She serves on the Bone Health Working Group for the Society for Women's Health Research, contributing to the 2021 recommendations published in the Journal for Women’s Health, and is a member of the Medical Advisory Committee for the National Menopause Foundation.

Dr Zoe Schaedel

Dr Zoe Schaedel has 17 years’ experience as an NHS GP with additional expertise in both sleep medicine and women’s health, which she combines into a special interest in sleep during the menopause transition. Dr Schaedel lectures widely on sleep, giving talks to organisations and clinical teams to improve understanding of healthy sleep and how to get it. She also teaches on the International Sleep Medicine Course and sits on the British Sleep Society Education Committee. Dr Schaedel is an accredited British Menopause Society Menopause Specialist and is the co-director of Myla Health, a private women’s health clinic as well as being the co-founder of The Good Sleep Clinic, which delivers personalised treatment programmes for insomnia. Dr Schaedel also leads the Brighton and Hove Community NHS Menopause Clinic.

Dr Abdul Seckam

Dr Abdul Seckam is the Head of Research and Academia at Healthcare Business Solutions UK (HBSUK), where he oversees in-house research activities, facilitates grant applications, and collaborates with clinical leads in various Virtual Lucy specialities to develop, publish, and present academic outputs. Dr Seckam serves as an Associate Tutor at Cardiff Metropolitan University, with a research emphasis on digital healthcare interventions.

Astrid Sherman

Astrid Sherman is currently the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) International Representative for the Americas’ and guest teaching between Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Spain. After dancing professionally with the Natal Performing Arts Council in South Africa, she immigrated to Canada. There she was artistic director of a large ISTD-based professional training school in Vancouver for 16 years, with many graduates being accepted into companies and post-graduate programs internationally. She has a Fellowship teaching qualification from the ISTD in Imperial Classical Ballet. Her BSc focused in Kinesiology and Gerontology from SFU in Canada and her MA in Dance Pedagogy was from Middlesex University in the UK. She is on the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) Dance Educators’ Committee where she is involved in organizing Regional and Outreach Virtual Dance Science events. Astrid has presented dance research at many IADMS & Healthy Dancer Canada conferences. She also acts as the Dancer Wellness Advisor for Ballet Beyond Borders.

Professor Aimee Spector

Aimee Spector is Professor of Clinical Psychology of Ageing. Her own experience of cognitive problems in perimenopause led to a research interest in the relationship between menopause, perimenopause and the brain. This has resulted in the development of the UCL ‘Menopause Mind Lab’; a team of researchers and clinicians dedicated to understand more about the impact of menopause and peri-menopause on both cognition and wellbeing. Current research studies focus on the impact of biopsychosocial-cultural factors experienced during this transition, and the development and evaluation of interventions to improve cognition, mood and overall quality of life. She is Director of the International Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST) centre at UCL and the ‘UCL Dementia Training Academy. Her research to date primarily focuses on the development and evaluation of psychosocial interventions for dementia, with a particular interest in global health. She has published over 165 peer-reviewed papers, 7 book chapters and 12 books; and is international lead for University College London’s Clinical Psychology doctorate course.

Tiffany Stott

Tiffany is the Dance Health Programmes Manager at Scottish Ballet. She trained as a dancer at London Studio Centre and holds an MSc in Dance Science from Trinity Laban. Her thesis, titled ‘The effects of rehearsal and performance on salivary cortisol, immunoglobulin a and upper respiratory tract infection in professional female ballet dancers’, explored parameters of immune function in dancers. Tiffany is a Personal Trainer and sports masseuse specialising in corrective exercise, in addition she ran a dance school for many years. Her current role at SB involves delivering and developing neurological dance programmes for Parkinson’s, dementia and multiple sclerosis. She played a major role in developing the ‘Health at Hand’ resource for health and social care staff, ‘Bedside Ballet’ for people with reduced mobility as well as resources for people living with long Covid. Her role also involves developing training programmes for health professionals, artists and dance students.

Dr Shema Tariq

Dr Shema Tariq is a Principal Research Fellow at University College London's Institute for Global Health, and an NHS consultant in Sexual Health and HIV at the Mortimer Market Centre in London, where she set up and runs one of the UK's leading menopause services for women living with HIV. Shema is recognised as an international expert in HIV and menopause, leading a programme of research in this area since 2015, and authoring UK and international clinical guidelines. She is also part of the UCL team developing the UK's first national menopause education and support programme.

Dr Brooke Winder

Dr. Brooke Winder is a licensed physical therapist and an Associate Professor at California State University, Long Beach. In her clinical practice she specializes in orthopaedics, pelvic health, and dance medicine and her clients include recreational athletes and performing artists as well as university-level and professional dancers. She is an active, published researcher on pelvic health in performing artists throughout the lifespan and presenter at many national and international conferences. Dr. Winder earned a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Southern California and a BFA in Dance from Chapman University. She is also a Board-Certified Specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy and a BASI-Certified Pilates instructor. Prior to her entry into the world of physical therapy and academia, she trained as a competitive gymnast and later performed as a professional dancer for Southern-California based Backhausdance. She is passionate about combining her perspectives as an athlete, clinician, educator, and researcher to advocate for improved understanding and optimal care for women and their pelvic health concerns.