The group, funded by a Future Health Research and Innovation Fund grant, will be led by Associate Professor Belinda Brown, from Murdoch University’s Centre for Healthy Ageing.

“The WA Women’s Brain Health project is breaching new territory, looking to uncover how lifestyle and health factors influence brain health before, during, and after menopause,” Associate Professor Brown said.

“Menopause creates changes right throughout our bodies, and despite the growing prevalence of dementia and brain decline in our ageing population, the relationship between menopause and brain health has never been studied in this way before.

“The research will bring together cognitive assessments, blood biomarkers and detailed information about menopause, lifestyle and health to build a clearer picture of what happens to the brain during this important stage of life.”

The research team is made up of five women, including three emerging post-doctoral researchers and a PhD candidate.

“We’ve assembled a fantastic team of five female researchers, and it’s really exciting to work together across different stages of our careers.

“We’re not only building knowledge that can improve the future of women’s health, but also developing the next generation of researchers in this important field,” Associate Professor Brown said.

The team brings together expertise in women’s health, cognitive ageing, exercise and lifestyle research, metabolomics and phenotyping. By combining these different areas of expertise, the researchers hope to build a much more complete picture of the factors that shape women’s brain health through midlife and into later life.

“We want the Women’s Brain Health project to allow women to make informed choices to protect their brain leading up to, during and beyond menopause.

“I’m really excited about what we’ll be able to achieve and hope that our findings will allow interventions to be developed to enhance brain health for the future.”

People interested in hearing about future women’s brain health research and community engagement opportunities can register their interest at womensbrainhealth@murdoch.edu.au.

• Ms Jennifer McGlynn, Centre for Computational and Systems Medicine Murdoch University and School of Allied Health

Image: Lead researcher Associate Professor Belinda Brown.