Yamnia I. Cortés: Women’s reproductive health across the life course: A marker for cardiovascular disease risk in later life?

Dr. Cortés obtained her BA in Biology and completed a concentration in Latino/a Studies at Williams College in 2006. She completed her MPH in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University in 2009, where she also received her BS/MS in Nursing and FNP-BC. In 2015, she received her PhD at Columbia University School of Nursing. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health from 2015-2018 in Cardiovascular Epidemiology. Dr. Cortés leads an interdisciplinary research program focusing on cardiovascular disease in midlife women. She has a longstanding interest in understanding how women’s reproductive health may be an indicator of future cardiovascular disease risk, including measures of subclinical vascular disease. Another area of research focuses on racial/ethnic disparities in women’s reproductive and cardiovascular health, as well as the role of sociocultural factors.

Abstract:

Women’s reproductive health across the life course: A marker for cardiovascular disease risk in later life?

In this presentation Dr. Cortés will provide an overview of the current evidence linking reproductive health, from menarche thru postmenopause, to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in midlife women and beyond. Using examples from existing literature and her program of research, she will discuss potential mechanisms and interventions to address inequities in reproductive health and CVD.