About

Welcome to the online home of the GW4 Menstrual and Mental Health Research Community!

This research community was established to facilitate collaborative research into how the menstrual cycle interacts with mental health. All community members are based at one of the four GW4 universities: Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter.

You can read more about our activities on our blog.

Menstrual health and mental health are linked

Women are nearly three times more likely to suffer from common mental health disorders than men and this risk is highest during their reproductive years. Hormonal fluctuations and symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle are likely to form a complex, multidirectional association with mental health (you can read more about the ways menstrual and mental health are linked in our blog post here). However, the intersection of menstrual and mental health is severely under-researched leaving millions of women with limited support and treatment options.

Our approach

Addressing these questions and identifying further important areas of investigation necessitates an interdisciplinary approach. Currently, researchers are fragmented between different institutions, working independently on research related to their areas of expertise. Therefore, we established this community to help bring researchers from the South West of the UK together.

We are driven by a shared set of values:

  • Interdisciplinarity: combining, in an open and honest setting, knowledge and expertise to conceptualise challenges in new ways;
  • Training: building and sharing skills and creating opportunities to support early career researchers;
  • Embedding impact and engagement: building a network of industry and third sector stakeholders to facilitate improvements to the lives of affected women.

Community members

The GW4 Menstrual and Mental Health Research Community is:

University of Bristol

Click here to read more about the Bristol team

  • Dr Gemma Sharp – Senior Lecturer in Molecular Epidemiology, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School (Lead applicant)
  • Dr Sarah Sullivan – Research Fellow in Primary Care Mental Health, Centre for Academic mental Health, Bristol Medical School
  • Prof Abigail Fraser – Professor of Epidemiology, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School
  • Prof Laura Howe – Professor of Epidemiology, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School
  • Prof Deborah Lawlor – Professor of Epidemiology, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School
  • Dr Kayleigh Easey – Senior Research Associate in Genetic Epidemiology, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School
  • Dr Rebecca Richmond – Research Fellow in Cancer Epidemiology, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School
  • Kate Bowen-Viner – PhD student, School for Policy Studies, Bristol Medical School
  • Dr Lindsey Pike – Impact and Policy Engagement Manager, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School
  • Dr Gemma Ford – Lecturer in Translational Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School
  • Prof Maria Fannin – Professor of Human Geography, School of Geographical Sciences
  • Gemma Sawyer – PhD student, MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit, Bristol Medical School
  • Dr Tigist Grieve – Lecturer in Childhood Studies, School of Policy Studies

University of Bath

Click here to read more about the Bath team

  • Dr Melanie Channon – Lecturer in Social Policy, Department of Social and Policy Sciences, Centre for Development Studies
  • Dr Jennifer Thomson – Lecturer in Comparative Politics, Department of Politics Languages and International Studies
  • Dr Frances Amery – Lecturer in Politics, Department of Social and Policy Sciences, Centre for Development Studies
  • Ignacio Franco-Vega – PhD student in Social and Policy Sciences, Department of Social and Policy Sciences, Centre for Development Studies

Cardiff University

  • Dr Arianna Di Florio – Clinical Senior Lecturer, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neuroscience
  • Jessica Yang – Research Assistant, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neuroscience
  • Chloe Apsey – Psychology assistant, MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neuroscience

University of Exeter

Click here to read more about the Exeter team

  • Dr Anna Murray – Associate Professor in Human Genetics, University of Exeter Medical School
  • Dr Kate Ruth – Research Fellow in the Genetics of Complex Traits, University of Exeter Medical School
  • Dr Jess Tyrrell – Senior Lecturer in Genetic Epidemiology, University of Exeter Medical School
  • Dr Julia Prague – NHS Consultant in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and General Internal Medicine at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Exeter

Funding

The Menstrual and Mental Health Research Community is funded by a GW4 Generator Award.