TN Tribune–Dr. Monica M. Christmas has been appointed to the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) Board of Trustees, effective May 14, 2021. Dr. Christmas will fill the Board seat left vacant by Dr. Carolyn Crandall’s resignation from the Board. Dr. Christmas is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Menopause Program and Center for Women’s Integrated Health, Section of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery at UChicago Medicine and Biological Sciences in Chicago, Illinois. Her special interests include management of uterine fibroids, abnormal uterine bleeding, menopause, and sexual dysfunction, along with minimally invasive gynecologic surgical techniques.
In 2015, she left a thriving community practice to establish a menopause program at the University of Chicago. Dr. Christmas is an avid educator and has developed a strong menopause curriculum for trainees, practitioners, and the lay community focusing on menopause care in underserved communities. Most recently, she collaborated with AllianceChicago and the Health Choice Network to implement a menopause-training program optimizing telehealth for their more than 2,000 providers. She is passionate about improving the health of women in underserved communities and reducing healthcare disparities.
Dr. Christmas also serves on the International Core OutcoMes in MenopAuse (COMMA) Steering Committee and recently published a systematic review of outcome reporting and measurement tools in clinical trials of treatment for genitourinary symptoms in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women. Her work informed the COMMA Steering Committee in development of a core outcome set for menopause symptoms.
Dr. Christmas has been an Active Member of NAMS since 2016 and also received the NAMS Certified Menopause Practitioner credential in 2016. In 2017, she was awarded the NAMS/Ann M. Voda Community Service Award. She has served as a member of the Scientific Program, Awards, and Education Committees (Chair in 2020) and on the Poster Judging Panel. In 2020, she was the Project Leader for the new Menopause A to Z slide set and currently serves as the editor of Menopause e-Consult. Dr. Christmas also will be serving as the moderator of a Plenary Symposium at the 2021 NAMS Annual Meeting.
