Politics, Policy and Advocacy: This theme is intended to shed light on 1) policy issues that impact women's health, 2) showcase people/groups trying to advocate for policy change & explain how they are doing it, and 3) highlight how politics can hinder/enable better women's health.
Brain Health: This theme showcases multidisciplinary research on women’s brain health including their unique disease risk and mitigating factors.
Socio-cultural Determinants of Health: This theme focuses on non-medical factors that influence health outcomes including income, education, race, etc.
General Health and Wellness: This theme encompasses all topics related to women’s mental and physical health that may impact their day to day lives.
Each season, a new set of student hosts will explore diverse topics in women’s health research alongside experts including scientists, students, and community groups. Through scientific inquiry we strive to amplify women’s health research and bring you episodes on a variety of topics from how genetics might influence disease risk, to how your periods and menopause may affect your health, and to how income inequality is gendered and impacts health, and so much more.
Although this podcast is centered around women’s health, it is not just for people who are born female or identify as a woman, it’s also for people of all genders—including men. This is a space where everyone can be a part of the conversation, learn about women’s experiences and how they impact our health or understand how we all can help women thrive. Exploring the world of women's health through this podcast will enlighten all, not just women, as it contains answers to mysteries such as why we know so little about what specifically affects the health of women, why certain diets or forms of exercise may be more beneficial if they are personalised to our gender and how exploring the role of gendered interactions can inform health disparities.
Why Women's Health?
Women are more likely to develop neuropsychiatric diseases such as major depressive disorder and anxiety, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Additionally, women disproportionately bear the psychological and economic burden of caring for relatives living with diseases, which can affect their health outcomes. Women also show unique physiological and behavioural changes throughout their lifespan. For example, pregnancy and the menstrual cycle result in physiological changes that can alter symptoms and susceptibility to disease that persist across a lifetime. Traumatic brain injury (TBJ) resulting from intimate partner violence (IPV) is approximately 80x greater than that from professional sports or military, yet the public attention has been on TBI following sport injury and not IPV. TBI has long-term physiological, mental and physical consequences that impact women’s health long after the incidence and TBI affects women differently than men. These findings demonstrate the need for more research and visibility on unique features of women’s health. To appreciate women’s health fully, we need to consider the cultural, societal and biological functions at play across a lifespan.
Listen/Subscribe:
Season 1 is available now on all major platforms! While waiting for season 2 check out our miniseries "Field Trip" starting September 14th!