Women's Brain Health
Sex and gender significantly affect brain health, with women facing higher risks for neurological conditions like stroke, dementia, as well as mental health.
Enhancing awareness, education, and knowledge is crucial for improving women's brain health care.
HERBrainCare Lab
Women's Brain Health Lifestyle Lab:
Holistic Education & quality impRovement of Brain Care in Women during Midlife Transition
Lifestyle medicine is an exciting frontier in evidence-based medicine aimed at tackling chronic diseases like stroke and vascular dementia, particularly benefiting women during midlife transitions (perimenopause, menopause, post menopause).
At #HERBrainCare Lab, we are dedicated to investigating, translating and implementing lifestyle medicine for optimal brain care while focusing on preventing stroke and dementia in women, regardless if they have preexisting medical or neurological condition. Every women deserves holistic brain care!
Our mission is to empower women (patients, healthcare providers, public) with resources, fostering a global community supporting women's brain wellness during midlife transitions (pre & peri-menopause, post-menopause)
Women's Neurology Program at U of T
Women’s Neurology is an exciting and rapidly growing medical specialty focused on neurological conditions that uniquely or predominantly affect women. The Women's Neurology Program at U of T was established in 2019, as Canada's first and only one-year accredited Women's Neurology Fellowship, and is co-directed by Drs. Esther Bui & Aleksandra Pikula The program is offering subspeciality education across core specialties: stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and headache.
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Why we need a subspeciality for a half of population? Key moments like preconception, pregnancy, postpartum, and the transformative midlife phases are at the forefront of this vital field. In 2016, the NIH established a groundbreaking policy mandating the inclusion of sex as a biological variable in research design and reporting. This crucial recognition underscores that neglecting sex as a biological factor can compromise the clarity and relevance of research findings. Since, many professional and government bodies, have emphasized the importance of integrating sex & gender into health research, paving the way for more inclusive studies, through the lens of structural and social determinants of health.
Women's Brain Health Rounds (WBHR) UofT
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The U of T WBHR (established in 2022 & since chaired by Drs. Aleksandra Pikula & Gillian Einstein) unite clinicians, clinical investigators, and basic research scientists, but also patients with lived experience, to address knowledge gaps in women's brain health within neurology and related fields, at the national and international level. The WBHR, held virtually, embodies core educational and knowledge translation values. It features ongoing research and clinical studies focused on women's brain health, addressing both neurological conditions and general brain health concerns.
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Our goal is to foster a translational dialogue between clinicians and research scientists by building a community of practice, highlighting known and unknown aspects of women's brain health and neurology, generating new research and clinical directions through interdisciplinary discussions, developing improved research paradigms to uncover mechanisms underlying women's neurological disorders, and engaging both clinicians and basic scientists in creating precision strategies for healthier brain aging in women, while culturally tailoring the relevance of this work to women in need, globally. In conjunction with the Frontiers in Global Women Health we are excited to present the Women’s Brain Health and Aging across Lifespan article collection showcasing the high-quality work and innovative approaches of internationally recognized researchers and leading experts in the field, encompassing clinical and basic science with a translational link to the clinic practice directed to better women’s brain care and health.​
Women's Stroke Prevention Clinic (We-SPC)
The Women's Stroke Prevention Clinic at UHN/Toronto Western Clinic, as a part of the Women's Neurology Program, is a multidisciplinary clinic specializing in stroke prevention for women. across lifespan It provides comprehensive care, including risk assessments, personalized prevention strategies, and education tailored to women's unique cerebrovascular brain health needs.
The clinic collaborates with various specialties, including general medicine, rheumatology, cardiology, psychiatry, high-risk pregnancy, obstetrical neurology, menopause, and endocrinology, to support complex care when necessary. This clinic is also a core competencies site for postgraduate medical education (electives, fellowship).
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