Rebecca C. Thurston, PhD, FAMBR, FSBSM, FAHA is Associate Dean for Women’s Health Research; Pittsburgh Foundation Chair of Women’s Health and Dementia; Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Epidemiology; and Director of the Center for Women’s Biobehavioral Health Research at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Thurston completed her undergraduate training at Stanford University, doctorate at Duke University, and fellowship at Harvard University. Dr. Thurston is an expert in menopause and women’s heart, brain, and mental health. She is a Principal Investigator (PI)/multiple PI of multiple NIH-funded studies of the menopause transition, including the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, a 30-year cohort study providing foundational information about the menopause transition; the MsHeart/MsBrain studies, which revealed the importance of menopausal symptoms for women’s heart and brain health; and MenoBrain, a large-scale prospective study of cardiovascular and brain changes in perimenopause. Dr. Thurston is also a Wellcome Leap Care Awardee for excellence in menopause and women’s brain health. In addition to her research, Dr. Thurston is committed to training the next generation of scholars; as such, she is Director of the NIH T32-funded Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Research Training Program. Further, Dr. Thurston is a practicing psychologist specializing in menopause, integrating behavioral healthcare into gynecologic menopause care. As a leader in mental health, she is co-chairing an American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on mental health and menopause. Dr. Thurston has authored over 250 publications, appearing in journals such as JAMA, Circulation, and Lancet. Her work is also featured in major media outlets including the New York Times, NPR, Forbes, and CNN. Dr. Thurston is Past President of The Menopause Society and a fellow of the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine, of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and of the American Heart Association. Dr. Thurston is a recipient of the University of Pittsburgh’s Chancellors Distinguished Senior Research Award and of the International Menopause Society’s Henry Burger Award for global excellence in menopause science.