Center for Midlife Science: Improving Health, Enhancing Function

PUBLISHED: “Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Female Reproductive Aging ” with lead author and Center Doctoral Student Jiaxin Wu, MPH

Congratulations to Center Doctoral Student Jiaxin Wu, MPH, on her first publication as a lead author in Seminars in Reproductive Medicine.

“Female reproductive aging often affects women's emotional, physical, and physiological well-being. Ovarian aging is characterized by fluctuations in reproductive hormones and determines the age at which menopause occurs. Understanding potentially modifiable factors that influence this process is essential for addressing health disparities, improving quality of life, and informing relevant public health strategies. ”

» Read the study at Seminars in Reproductive Medicine

In the news: “Women farmworkers in Michigan face unique work challenges” on Michigan Radio

Alexis Handal, PhD, MPH and Lisbeth Iglesias-Ríos, PhD, MPH, MA

“We are finding exploitative conditions that are unique for women farmworkers around issues of sexual harassment, exposures during pregnancy, challenges with obtaining and having access to proper hygiene and sanitation, particularly during menstruation, and also really important aspects of work-life balance and child care issues that women farmworkers in particular face-” — Alexis J. Handal, PhD, MPH (Co-Study Lead, Michigan Farmworker Project).

» Read more on Michigan Radio

PUBLISHED: “Self-reported history of physical intimate partner violence and longitudinal cognitive performance in midlife women” with lead author and Center Doctoral Student Jillian Baker, MPH, BA

Congratulations to Center Doctoral Student Jillian Baker, MPH, BA, on her first publication as a lead author in Women’s Health.

“Midlife women with a history of physical intimate partner violence exhibited a persistent decrease in the trajectory of working memory. These longitudinal findings extend previous cross-sectional reports which found that physical intimate partner violence had detrimental effects on working memory.”

» Read the study at Women’s Health

In the News: “What Do We Know About Environment, Climate, And Menopause? Not Enough” with Center Core Faculty Sung Kyun Park, ScD, MPH

“Our data suggests that women with higher blood concentrations of PFOA and PFOS reached menopause earlier … than those with low exposure. This is equivalent to the effect of cigarette smoke, a known reproductive toxicant, where we compared current smokers and nonsmokers.”

» Read more at Moms Clean Air Force

IN THE NEWS: “Discrimination Could Be Making People of Color Age Faster” with Center affiliate Alexis N. Reeves, PhD, MPH on Scientific American podcast (AUDIO 🔊)

“We found that Black and Hispanic women had a higher risk of having surgical menopause... and we found that hypertension occurred about five years earlier, and metabolic outcomes such as diabetes and insulin resistance about 11 years earlier for Black and Hispanic women versus white women.’”

» Listen to Scientific American’s Science Quickly podcast

IN THE NEWS: “Your Doctor Retired — Now What? ” in CoveyClub, with comments from Center Core Faculty Siobán D. Harlow, PhD

“It’s a time that women have to advocate very strongly for themselves so that their symptoms are not ignored. What’s important is that you feel that your doctor is listening to you and addressing your concerns — not just doing a checklist.”

» Read more at CoveyClub

News

Publications

Project: SWAN Multi-Pollutant Study

The SWAN Multi-Pollutant Study (MPS) was initiated in 2016 to examine health effects of multiple environmental chemical exposures, including perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), metals, phenols, phthalates, and organophosphate pesticide among midlife women. Funded through two R01 grants by the National Institute of Environmental Health and Sciences (NIEHS), the SWAN MPS specifically investigates 1) obesity, type-2 diabetes and related metabolic endpoints; and 2) reproductive health including sex steroid hormones, age at menopause and ovarian aging).

Project: Michigan Farmworker Project (MFP)

The Michigan Farmworker Project (MFP) is a community-engaged project that aims to provide a deeper understanding of the complex working and living conditions of migrant and seasonal farmworkers in the state of Michigan and the relationship with health outcomes in this population. The MFP seeks to identify indicators of labor exploitation in farmworkers and relate this understanding to farmworker’s psychosocial, occupational and environmental risk factors as well as gaps in service provision and recommendations from farmworkers themselves to address their current working and living conditions.

Project: SWAN Genomic Analyses

SWAN Genomic Analyses performed dense genome-wide genotyping and imputation of genetic variants throughout the genome to the Haplotype Reference Consortium (HRC) reference panel in 1538 SWAN participants. This project enables SWAN to participate in genetic consortia focused on reproductive aging as well as risk factors for health and disease in women with data uploaded to dbGaP. We are also conducting gene-based analyses to assess the association of menopausal traits, including vasomotor symptoms, with genetic loci previously identified to be associated with age at menarche and menopause. (AG 017719)