Let’s Talk Women’s Health in Rheumatic Diseases

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Compared with men, women have a higher incidence of autoimmune disease and are more affected by rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).

In this episode, we’re highlighting the importance of recognizing and discussing women’s health – from premenstruation through menstruation and pregnancy and menopausal transition – in rheumatology. The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) also recently released its guidelines for the management of reproductive health in women with RMDs.

Our featured guest is Mehret Birru-Talabi, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and associate Rheumatology Fellowship program director in the Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology at the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

We will also be getting an expert input from lead author of the ACR guidelines on reproductive health in women with RMDs, Lisa Sammaritano, MD, attending physician, director of the Rheumatology Reproductive Health Program in the Barbara Volcker Center for Women and Rheumatic Disease at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, and professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York

Featured Guests

Mehret Birru Talabi, MD, PhD, is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and associate program director of the Rheumatology Fellowship. She received her MD and PhD in epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr Talabi subsequently completed her internal medicine residency with a focus in women’s health and rheumatology fellowship at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC). Her research focuses on the intersection of women’s health and rheumatology, and she is particularly focused on building a reproductive healthcare framework in rheumatology.

Lisa Sammaritano, MD, is a professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), New York. She is the director of the Rheumatology Reproductive Health Program in the Barbara Volcker Center at HSS, has a full-time rheumatology practice, and conducts clinical research in the areas of systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome, and reproductive health. Dr Sammaritano led the recently published American College of Rheumatology (ACR) guideline on reproductive health in rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease, which provides guidance to clinicians in areas of contraception, fertility therapies, pregnancy, and menopause.