Dr. Rebecca Thurston is nationally recognized as a leading expert in women’s health, with a research portfolio that spans menopause, cardiovascular disease, brain aging, and the impact of trauma on women’s health. As Associate Dean for Women’s Health Research and Director of the Center for Women’s Biobehavioral Health, Dr. Thurston advances science, training, science dissemination, and clinical care focused on women’s health at midlife and beyond.
Dr. Thurston’s innovative research examines the implications of the menopause transition for women’s heart, brain, and mental health. She also considers menopausal symptoms—such as hot flashes and sleep disturbances—serve as early indicators of cardiovascular and brain health risks. Her work has demonstrated links between vasomotor symptoms, sleep disturbance, and cardiovascular disease, as well as associations with markers of brain aging and dementia risk. She also investigates the long-term health consequences of trauma, including sexual harassment and assault, on women’s cardiovascular and neurocognitive health.
A prolific scholar, Dr. Thurston has authored more than 250 publications and leads multiple NIH-funded studies, including the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) and the MsBrain and MenoBrain projects, which use advanced neuroimaging to explore menopause-related brain changes. She is also a recipient of the Wellcome Trust CARE award designed to advance the understanding of menopause and Alzheimer's Disease risk in women.
Dr. Thurston’s contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the Henry Burger Award from the International Menopause Society, election as a Fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research and the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine, and leadership as Past President of The Menopause Society. In 2025, she received the University of Pittsburgh Chancellor’s Senior Distinguished Research Award and the Lisa Stanford Excellence in Leadership Award for her outstanding scientific and leadership achievements.
Dr. Thurston earned her B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Health Psychology from Duke University. She completed her clinical internship at the University of Washington School of Medicine and a postdoctoral fellowship as a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar at Harvard University before joining the University of Pittsburgh faculty in 2005.
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