Medical students at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis recently honored faculty and residents with Distinguished Service and Teaching Awards.
For the 2023-24 academic year students chose Makeba Williams, MD, an associate professor and the vice chair of professional development and wellness in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Williams’ work on women’s health and particularly menopause health is nationally recognized. She directs the menopause clinic at Washington University and investigates the differences in menopause experiences between racial and ethnic groups.
Her work has raised awareness about the distinct conditions typically experienced by Black women during menopause.
She recently published a review in Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society which examined health disparities and other factors that impact Black Americans going through and being treated for menopause.
“Going back to the 1800s, we’ve been interested in hormone therapy. And in part, we had been basing how we care for women off how we care for men,” Williams said on St. Louis Public Radio.
“Research was not being invested into women’s health. And it really took some political and social capital — the change of who was being represented, even in Congress — and we started looking at how women were being included in research studies that led to the Women’s Health Initiative.”
Through the WHI, Williams and five other doctors reviewed literature on menopause from the past 20 years.
“We found that African American women had an earlier onset of menopause, they had a longer menopausal transition, what we often term as the perimenopause, and that their symptoms are different,” Williams said.
She and her cohorts found that Black women experience menopause symptoms longer than white women, an average of 10 years compared to six years. Black Americans are also less likely to receive treatment for their menopause symptoms.
“That is problematic because many of these symptoms are associated with poor health outcomes,” she said. “[Symptoms] can be markers of cardiovascular disease, and we see that there is a disparity in who bears the cardiovascular disease burdens along the lines of race and ethnicity.”
Other WASH U honorees include:
Glenn Conroy Module Leader of the Year: Steven Cheng, MD, professor of medicine.
Jane Phillips-Conroy Professor of the Year: Justin Sadhu, MD, associate professor of medicine.
Thread Leader of the Year: Erika Crouch, MD, PhD, the Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Professor of Medical Education in pathology & immunology.
Stanley Lang Teacher of the Year: Jonathan Mullin, MD, associate professor of pediatrics.
Distinguished Service Teaching Awards
Inclusion: Dennis Chang, MD, associate professor of medicine
Research: Simon Haroutounian, PhD, associate professor of anesthesiology, director of the Division of Clinical and Translational Research, and chief of clinical pain research at the Washington University Pain Center.
Creativity: Allyson Zazulia, MD, professor of neurology and associate dean for Continuing Medical Education.
Critical Thinking: Amjad Musleh, MD, assistant professor of anesthesiology.
Diversity: Nigar Kirmani, MD, professor of medicine.
Clinical Care: Tim Yau, MD, associate professor of medicine.
PHASE TWO AWARDS
Clerkship of the Year: Surgery.
Clerkship Administrator of the Year: Christine McIntosh, neurology medical student education coordinator.
Clinical Educator of the Year: Amanda Zofkie, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology, attending.
Clinical Educator of the Year: Chris Noda, MD, general surgery resident.
Distinguished Service Teaching Awards
Inclusion:
- Brad Warner, MD[; Jessie L. Ternberg, MD, PhD Distinguished Professor of Pediatric Surgery, attending.
- Paul Kepper, MD, general surgery resident.
Diversity:
- Jennifer A. Mitchell, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics & gynecology, attending.
- Caroline Min, MD, obstetrics & gynecology resident.
Clinical Care:
- Cheryl McDonough, MD, assistant professor of medicine, attending.
- Katharine Caldwell, MD, general surgery chief resident.
- Gabriel Vazquez Velez, MD, PhD, neurology resident.