Additional Positions
- Pittsburgh Foundation Chair in Women's Health and Dementia
- Associate Dean for Women's Health Research, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
- Director, Center for Women's Biobehavioral Health Research
- Training Director, Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Research Training Program
- Professor of Clinical and Translational Science, Epidemiology and Psychology
Meet Dr. Thurston
Dr. Rebecca Thurston is a global leader in menopause and women’s health. Her research has yielded breakthroughs in the understanding of menopause and its implications for women’s cardiovascular, mental, and brain health. She is a Principal Investigator of multiple large studies on menopause including the Study of Women’s Health across the Nation, the MsHeart/MsBrain studies, and the MenoBrain study among others. In addition to her research on menopause, her work has also revealed the importance of trauma and violence for women’s health. She has published >240 papers on these topics. Her research is regularly featured in major press outlets including The New York Times, CNN, Forbes, and The Washington Post.
Dr. Thurston is committed to training the next generation of scholars. As such, she is Director of the Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Research Training Program, a program ongoing for over 40 years that has trained leaders in cardiovascular behavioral medicine. Finally, Dr. Thurston is a practicing clinician specializing in menopause care, with a particular interest in integrating behavioral care into medical menopause care. She has authored major clinical guidelines on menopause care for The Menopause Society and is leading a Presidential task force setting research and clinical practice priorities on menopause for The American Psychological Association.
Dr. Thurston is a recipient of the most prestigious global prize in menopause science, the Henry Burger Prize from the International Menopause Society. She is also a recipient of the Chancellor’s Senior Distinguished Research Award and the Lisa Stanford Excellence in Leadership Award. Dr. Thurston is Past President of The Menopause Society, is an Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine fellow, and is an elected fellow of both the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and of the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine.