I am a Reader and Consultant Gynaecologist at the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian.

In my clinical role, I run a specialist menstrual disorders service offering medical and surgical treatments, ranging from minimally invasive surgery up to hysterectomy procedures. My research team aims to develop better preventative and therapeutic strategies for problematic menstrual bleeding, a common and debilitating symptom. Currently, I hold a Wellcome Trust Clinical Career Development Fellowship to investigate the role of hypoxia in menstrual physiology and pathology. I have funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh to examine the potential link between COVID and menstrual disturbance. I sit on the Editorial Board of Reproduction, Journal for Endometriosis and Uterine Disorders and Physiological Reviews. I am president of the RCOG Blair Bell Society, a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland and Chair the National Menstrual Clinical Network for the Scottish Government.

Professor Kathleen Riach is a world-leading expert on ageing and gender in the workpalce with an expertise on menopause and wellbeing across the life course. As well as publishing widely, she has led the development of MIPO (Menopause Information Pack Online); a free open access resource toolkit for managers which has been downloaded over 14000 times across 52 countries.  Kat has held a variety of visiting positions, expert advisory boards and council roles across Europe, the US and Australasia in the areas of equality, women’s leadership and reproductive health at work, including the recent BSI Guidelines on Menstruation, Menstrual Health and Menopause in the workplace (BS30416), and the Scottish Government Women’s Health Plan Working Party for Menopause and Menstruation.  Most recently, she published the AMMInO study, the recommendations of which directly informed NHS Scotland’s Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy. Kat is an Academic Fellow of the CIPD and her book, Working Through Ageing, will be published this year.

Fiona is Chief People Officer within the Health Workforce Directorate of Scottish Government, a unique post with an external focus, working to build strong links between Government, NHS Boards and the wider Health and Social Care system to ensure our people priorities are aligned and our resources used to best effect.  Prior to taking up this role in May 2023, Fiona was Director of People & Culture at NHS Highland, driving the leadership, governance and culture transformation following the Sturrock report.  She joined the NHS after 20 years working in a range of people, change and leadership roles in the Financial Services and Pharmaceutical R&D sectors, and is passionate about compassionate leadership, encouraging challenge, valuing difference,  promoting kindness and respect and putting people not processes first.  Fiona is a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD and has a degree in HR from the University of Stirling.

Karen is a specialist employment lawyer with over 30 years’ experience and is based in Edinburgh.

She represents clients throughout the UK on a diverse range of employment matters. Karen advises on contentious disputes, appearing regularly in employment tribunals and on project work providing practical solutions to complex people management issues.

Agnes has been an active campaigner in the women’s movement for over 30 years, campaigning for equal pay and increased political and public representation for women.

During the 1990s, Agnes was involved with a coalition of women in Scotland for the establishment of a Scottish Parliament and campaigned with the STUC Women’s Committee for a 50/50 gender balance.  She was also an active anti-apartheid campaigner, visiting South Africa with the first all women delegation.

Agnes has also been the Chair of the STUC Women’s Committee, Chair of Unite the Union Scotland Women’s Committee, a member of the UNI Global World Executive Board and their World Women’s Committee.  Agnes is a past President of the STUC and was the recipient of the STUC Women’s Meritorious Award in 2012 and received a TUC Gold Badge for Service to Women in 2013.

Zuzanna is a Head of Health, Safety and Wellbeing for Quarriers.

Quarriers is a Scottish social care charity based in Quarrier’s Village, Inverclyde. It provides care and support for people with a disability, children and families, young people, young homeless people, people with epilepsy and carers.

Zuzanna holds BSc Honours degree in Environmental Health from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Health awarded by The Royal Environment Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS).

Zuzanna is a Chartered Safety and Health Professional and has experience in all matters around management of workplace Health and Safety and wellbeing.

Alice is the current Clinical Nurse Manger for Women’s Services in NHS Grampian covering Gynaecology, Breast and Fertility services for the North East. Having worked for the NHS in a variety of roles for over 20 years she has extensive clinical and managerial experience, obtaining her MSc in Advancing Nursing Practice (Clinical Practice). Maintaining a holistic approach to her person-centred care she moved into Women’s Health just over three years ago. 

Alice is passionate about women’s health and driven to be an advocate for service users and colleagues, ensuring their voice is heard and needs are supported. A key role for Alice is lead for menopause in the workplace for NHS Grampian, working closely with colleagues to meet the needs of the workforce enabling a menopause friendly organisation and environment. She has also worked with the Scottish Government to develop the NHS Once for Scotland Menopause and Menstrual Health Policy.

Rachel is a Research Director in Ipsos’s Scotland team, with 20 years’ experience of leading research on Scottish public policy and politics. Rachel has a long-standing interest in equalities issues and currently co-leads Ipsos UK’s Inclusion and Diversity Research Hub, which develops and shares best practice on research on inclusion issues. She will share findings from recent Ipsos research on attitudes to and experiences of the menopause, including in the workplace.

With a background in public Health and Mental health, over the past 18 years I have worked for Kent Community Health Foundation Trust, Kent County Council and more recently NHS Grampian to develop and roll out programmes, resources, toolkits,  workshops and training on a range of public health and wellbeing topics. My most recent experience has afforded me the opportunity to lead on the development and roll out of NHS Grampians developing menopause aware workforce. This has been underpinned by whole setting approach, originally developed by the WHO, to ensure that staff across NHS Grampian and our Health and Care Partnerships feel knowledgeable, listened to and supported around Menopause, particularly in the workplace.

Rachel Weiss enjoys helping people lead more satisfying lives and exploring, for herself, what it means to become an older, wiser woman.  In her day job at  Rowan Consultancy, she is a counsellor, trainer and coach.

Rachel volunteers with the Menopause Café charity to increase awareness of the impact that menopause has on those experiencing it, their colleagues and families. She lives in Perth, Scotland, where she is learning to appreciate dogs.

www.menopausecafe.net

Biog

Heather Currie, MBE, MB BS, FRCOG, DRCOG, MRCGP

Gynaecologist with special interests in Menopause, PMS and Cervical screening. Past Associate Medical Director Dumfries and Galloway NHS.

Past Clinical Lead for Gynaecology Modernising Patient pathways Programme for Scotland. Clinical Advisor Scottish Government for Women’s Health Plan. Chair Scottish Menopause Specialists’ network.

Trustee and past Chair British Menopause Society, Co-Editor Post Reproductive Health, the journal of the British Menopause Society. Author of many review and original articles in peer-reviewed journals and of the books: Menopause, answers at your fingertips, and Menopause Essentials. Founder and MD of Menopause Matters which runs the award winning website and publishes the award winning quarterly magazine, Menopause Matters.

Awarded MBE June 2021 for services to healthcare.

Pat is the Scottish Development Coordinator for Endometriosis UK.

Pat’s role includes supporting the Endometriosis UK volunteers and support groups in Scotland, as well as being the dedicated Scottish point of contact for the charity’s UK-wide campaigns. Pat is passionate about meaningful stakeholder engagement and advocacy, so spends a lot of time travelling around Scotland visiting and meeting those with a stake in improving endometriosis diagnosis and care – from patients, to politicians!

Before joining Endometriosis UK, Pat worked in the NHS for many years, as an Occupational Therapist (OT). In this role, she gained extensive experience working in community mental health, facilitating the development of peer support networks and vocational rehabilitation schemes. As an OT, Pat spent a lot of time working alongside people from a vast array of backgrounds, who were living with varied chronic conditions.

Pat is the mother of an endometriosis sufferer and a ‘survivor’ of the menopause, so brings her personal and professional experience to her work.

Dr Diane Willis is a psychologist and nurse who lectures at Edinburgh Napier University. She has a special interest in people with intellectual disability in the areas of the menopause, bereavement and cancer and cancer screening. She has written several articles exploring the experience of the menopause in women with intellectual disabilities and those who support them. This work contributed to the NICE guidelines NG96 Care and support of people growing older with learning disabilities. She has also developed a ‘Guide to the Menopause’ with Family Advice and Information Resources (FAIR) a charity for people with intellectual disabilities of which she is Chair. She is currently working with colleagues in Norway, NHS Grampian, and NHS Highlands and Islands on research and resources on the menopause for women with intellectual disability and those who support them. Their Continuing Professionals Development article will be available later this year. She works internationally with colleagues in France, Scandinavia and The Netherlands exploring cancer and cancer screening for people with intellectual disabilities and has recently developed an accessible screening website with NHS Lothian Public Health.

Julie Burns works with Endometriosis UK as the Endometriosis Employer Friendly (EFE) scheme coordinator. She has her own lived experience of the condition which drives her passion to see support and help in the work environment to enable sufferers to thrive and continue on in their employment context.

Kate Christie is the Head of Organisational Development at the Cairngorms National Park Authority. As a head of service for a small organisation, she wears many hats, and leads the HR function, as well as H&S, Administration and Equalities. Kate has developed and introduced a number of innovative policies, with the Park Authority being one of the first public sector organisations to introduce a Menopause Policy in 2019, and more recently a Gender Diversity Policy, as well as a Neurodiversity Policy and Reasonable Adjustments Passport Policy. Through this flexible and innovative approach, the Park Authority has been listed as one of the “Top Ten Flexible Employers in Scotland”, and also received Highly Commended in the Family Friendly Awards. The organisation is regularly listed in the Sunday Times Best Companies top 100 organisations to work for in the Not for Profit Sector.

I am a Reader and Consultant Gynaecologist at the Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian.

In my clinical role, I run a specialist menstrual disorders service offering medical and surgical treatments, ranging from minimally invasive surgery up to hysterectomy procedures. My research team aims to develop better preventative and therapeutic strategies for problematic menstrual bleeding, a common and debilitating symptom. Currently, I hold a Wellcome Trust Clinical Career Development Fellowship to investigate the role of hypoxia in menstrual physiology and pathology. I have funding from the Royal Society of Edinburgh to examine the potential link between COVID and menstrual disturbance. I sit on the Editorial Board of Reproduction, Journal for Endometriosis and Uterine Disorders and Physiological Reviews. I am president of the RCOG Blair Bell Society, a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Young Academy of Scotland and Chair the National Menstrual Clinical Network for the Scottish Government.