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It is time to talk openly about menopause in academia

During the COVID-19 lockdown period, while working from home and sitting through endless Zoom meetings, we decided to add a late afternoon walk with our dogs to our calendars, while talking to each other over the phone. The menopause transition had begun for both of us, and we needed to create a space that we could count on to express our frustrations out loud. We were trying to meet the many demands of an academic career, all while feeling tired, itchy, hot or anxious and — yes! — sometimes foggy, distracted or depressed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health Sciences, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, UC Davis Genome Center, UC Davis School of Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Laura Fejerman

  2. Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Mariana C. Stern

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  1. Laura Fejerman
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  2. Mariana C. Stern
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Laura Fejerman.

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Fejerman, L., Stern, M.C. It is time to talk openly about menopause in academia.
Nat Hum Behav (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01765-9

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  • Published: 05 December 2023

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-023-01765-9

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