News
- Video: “Perimenopause or Menopause? An Expert Offers Clarity” with CLEAR Faculty John Randolph, MD
John Randolph, MD“Menopause actually is an event,” Randolph said, saying that medically, menopause is defined as a woman’s final menstrual period, confirmed after 12 consecutive months without bleeding. Perimenopause, by contrast, is the yearslong transition leading up to menopause and can often continue for several years after as hormone levels continue to fluctuate. He compared the transition to puberty because both involve significant hormonal changes that can affect nearly every aspect of the body.
“It’s a good way to think about it because the changes can be very unpredictable and difficult to deal with,” he said.
- More at Michigan Medicine Health Lab
- August 19 2026
- CONGRATULATIONS! CLASS Laboratory wins 2026 Freezer Challenge
The CLASS Lab TeamThe Central Ligand Assay Satellite Services (CLASS) laboratory has won the Overall U-M Large Lab Award Category and the SPH Large Lab Award Category for the 2026 Freezer Challenge. The challenge encourages laboratory staff to earn points and save energy by performing preventive maintenance, following best practices for temperature settings, replacing energy-intensive older freezers, and reducing the number of freezers.
The CLASS laboratory is a CLEAR and SWAN Study Collaborating Laboratory. The CLASS laboratory streamlines the research pipeline by providing custom-designed collection kits with barcoded, uniquely identified components, followed by secure processing and 24/7-monitored ultra-low or liquid nitrogen storage. Learn more about the CLASS Laboratory.
- July 29 2026
- VIDEO: “Perimenopause and Heart Health Livestream ” with CLEAR Faculty John Randolph, MD and Catherine Kim, MD, MPH
John Randolph, MD and Catherine Kim, MD, MPHIt’s no secret that perimenopause has become a hot topic over recent years; the word is plugged into search engines more than 200,000 times each month. It’s less common knowledge, though, that hormonal changes during the perimenopause stage can significantly affect cardiovascular risk.
- More at Michigan Medicine Health Lab
- April 09 2026
- CONGRATULATIONS! Excellence in Teaching Award goes to Center Core Faculty member Sung Kyun Park, ScD, MPH
Sung Kyun Park, ScD, MPHCenter Core Faculty member Sung Kyun Park, ScD, MPH, professor of Epidemiology and Environmental Health Sciences, was named the 2026 recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award acclaimed for his strong teaching and mentoring skills. Over the course of his fifteen year career as a faculty member at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, he has developed and led impactful coursework, mentored students in and out of the classroom, and been committed to the continuous improvement of education across the school.
“Dr. Park takes his role as a research advisor very seriously and incorporates didactic and experiential learning opportunities into his advisees’ training plans as well as his research group’s professional development.”
“Dr. Park’s approach to courses includes both oral instruction and coding practice, allowing all learning styles to excel in his courses. His courses are challenging, but he ensures you are well equipped and supported to not only be successful in the course, but to also apply the knowledge gained to your own research.”
“One of the qualities that sets Dr. Park apart most, in my opinion, is his ability to generate genuine enthusiasm for epidemiology. His passion for the field is unmistakable, and it shapes the atmosphere in his classroom. Rather than treating teaching as just the delivery of information and techniques, he creates a learning environment that is energetic, engaging, and interactive, where students are invited to think critically, participate actively, and feel invested in the material.”
“Having once been an international student himself, Dr. Park brings a deeply personal understanding of the academic, professional, and cultural challenges that come with studying abroad. This shared experience has allowed him to offer tailored and thoughtful advice on career development that goes beyond what a typical advisor might provide.”
- April 06 2026
- PODCAST: Center Director Carrie A. Karvonen-Gutierrez, PhD, MPH on the ICPSR NACDA podcast (AUDIO 🔊)
Carrie A. Karvonen-Gutierrez, PhD, MPH“What we see differently during midlife is that the pattern of physical functioning limitations is really quite dynamic. We see that over that midlife phase, people are as likely to decline in their physical functioning as they are to improve. And what this really suggests to us is that midlife is a really important life stage to think about improving health, because it is dynamic, it is malleable.” — Carrie Karvonen-Gutierrez, PhD, MPH (Associate Chair for Faculty Affairs, Epidemiology and Director, Center for Lifecourse Epidemiology and Aging Research)
- More at The ICPSR NACDA Podcast
- March 5 2026
- IN THE NEWS: “The invisible workforce behind Michigan’s $125B agriculture industry” on MLive
Alexis Handal, PhD, MPH and Lisbeth Iglesias-Ríos, PhD, MPH, MA“They’re a very, very invisible population,” said Alexis Handal, a University of Michigan professor who co-leads the Michigan Farmworker Project alongside researcher Lisbeth Iglesias-Ríos.
- More at MLive
- January 07 2026
- IN THE NEWS: “Adults face lasting effects months after RSV hospitalization” with Center Core Faculty Aleda (Allie) M. Leis, PhD, MS
Aleda (Allie) M. Leis, PhD, MS“Since there are limited treatment options for RSV, it's important to understand the potential long-term outcomes of severe RSV infection so that clinicians and public health workers can identify who might benefit from additional follow-up after their illness. This information can also help inform efforts to prevent disease or reduce severity, such as through vaccination, which is now available to certain groups of adults.”
- More at Michigan Public Health News Center
- December 10 2025
- VIDEO: “One pioneering study provides decades worth of data on menopause” featuring the SWAN Study on Spectrum News
“If you open an endocrinology textbook and look at what hormone patterns look like across the menopause transition, that is data from SWAN ... SWAN is by far the largest, longest, most in-depth study of women traversing the midlife and menopausal transition and then following them into late adulthood” — Carrie Karvonen-Gutierrez, PhD, MPH (Associate Chair for Faculty Affairs, Epidemiology and Director, Center for Lifecourse Epidemiology and Aging Research)
- More at Spectrum News
- November 3 2025
- IN THE NEWS: “Where Menopause Hits Hardest” with comments from Center Core Faculty Siobán D. Harlow, PhD
Siobán Harlow, PhD“Cardiovascular comorbidities such as high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes may also cause hot flashes way before a woman’s transition begins. It is likely that underlying cardiovascular conditions may increase risk of hot flashes, and frequent, high intensity hot flashes experienced for a long duration may increase cardiovascular risk.”
- More at healthcentral.com
- October 1 2025