Current Project
The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN): The Impact of Midlife and the Menopause Transition on Health and Functioning in Early Old Age
This proposal capitalizes on the rich resources of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a longitudinal cohort study initiated in 1994 to characterize the physiological and psychosocial changes that occur during the menopause transition (MT). A total of 3302 Black, Chinese, Japanese, Hispanic and White women were enrolled at seven sites, with 74% of still- living women completing up to 16 visits spanning the pre-menopause to post-menopause. SWAN has described the natural history of the MT -- its timing, patterns of hormonal changes, and symptoms – and their relation to midlife health indicators. In SWAN-Aging, we will extend follow-up of the SWAN cohort into early old age (66-75 years) and will prospectively link comprehensive longitudinal characterization of both the MT and midlife health indicators to functioning and health across multiple domains in early old age, a pivotal time of transition into old age when adverse changes in health and functioning begin to accumulate.
Chicago Site Principal Investigator: Imke Janssen, PhD
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
NIH grant number: U19AG063720
Recruiting status: Women who have previously participated in the SWAN study, locally known as the WISH Project, will be invited to come in for another visit over the next 18 months.
Contact information: Swan_Aging@rush.edu
Principal Investigator: Imke Janssen, Phone: (312) 942-8122
Project Director: Michelle Villanueva, Phone: (708) 660-6461
Past Project
Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) V: Chicago site
The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) is a multi-center, multi-ethnic longitudinal study designed to characterize the physiological and psychosocial changes that occur during the menopausal transition and to observe their effects on subsequent health and risk factors for age-related diseases.
Principal Investigator: Howard Kravitz, MD & Lynda Powell, PhD
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health
NIH grant number: U01AG012505