The Center for Human Reproduction (CHR) is pleased to announce the establishment of the Menopause Research Institute (MRI) as a new, and independent, division of CHR. The establishment of MRI, within the framework of CHR, represents a logical continuation of CHR’s clinical and research activities.

CHR has a world-wide reputation as a leader and innovator in the treatment of the aging ovary. Research, performed at CHR, has led to the utilization of dehyroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in women with, either physiologically, or prematurely, aging ovaries. Concomitantly, CHR has spearheaded the concept of stimulating ovaries, during infertility treatment, not based on the chronological age of a patient, but based on her ovarian age. Combined, these developments have resulted in significantly improved pregnancy chances for women with aging ovaries.

Due to CHR’s special expertise, the Center has been attracting patients with aging ovaries from all over the world. In helping them to conceive, we, however, noticed that their clinical needs often went beyond the fertility treatments, they had originally consulted us for. Whether they conceived, or not, sooner or later, many amongst them, would contacts us with classical concerns and complaints of early menopause.

Long before we, ourselves, imagined offering menopause care at CHR, they pointed out to us that the treatment of menopause-related problems represents a logical continuum of care to treating women with aging ovaries. They intuitively recognized that the reproductive endocrinologist may, at times, be the best suited expert to help them transition into early menopause.

Though we agreed that reproductive endocrinologists were well qualified to address these issues, we were aware that our practice lacked a formal framework to offer the needed services to a new group of patients, and with the same high service level, to which we had become accustomed to at CHR’s fertility services.

The establishment of MRI creates such a framework. As the name of this new Institute, however, clearly spells out, our intent is not only to offer state-of-the-arts perimenopausal and menopausal clinical care but, as has been our practice in the fertility arena for over two decades, also to advance knowledge in this area of medicine.

Data from many studies, primarily published through the Women’s Health Initiative, have caused considerable confusion about the treatment of menopause. This, therefore, appears, more than ever before, an opportune time to step in and offer a structured clinical, holistic approach to women in need of such services.

At MRI we offer comprehensive evaluations, followed by treatments, as women struggle with their transitions into menopause. In an all-encompassing effort, MRI has been positioned as a central repository for information, diagnosis and treatment on all aspects and approaches towards menopause, whether allopathic or homeopathic in nature or involving other alternative treatment approaches. In other words, MRI is a one-stop medical center for the middle-aged woman in need of comprehensive advice on how to safely, and comfortably, transition out of the reproductive years into the next rewarding phase of her life, menopause.

As in the area of reproductive medicine, our clinical approaches towards menopausal women will be innovative and consider the latest research. Based on the information we have gathered through CHR’s own investigations of the aging ovary in our fertility practice, we are convinced that our ability to carefully formulate individualized treatment plans, based on individual risk profiles, family histories, symptoms and life style demands, is rather unique. Our approach is holistic and does not, as is so frequently the case, focus only on medical interventions.

We also recognize the fact that, especially during the early stages of the transition into menopause, when symptoms and life style changes can appear almost overwhelming, patients require quick and easy access to care. We, therefore, have, in addition to our regular program, established a so-called Concierge Service, which on an unlimited basis, guarantees subscribers in need instant access to a MRI physician 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including on holidays.

As the former Chairman of the Hormone Trial Advisory Committee for the Women’s Health Initiative, nobody appears better suited to spearhead such an effort than David Barad, M.D., who will be serving as the Medical and Research Director of MRI. Dr. Barad is uniquely qualified for these new responsibilities, not only because of his affiliation with the Women’s Health Initiative, but also because of his extraordinary level of knowledge in epidemiology and study design. In addition to being an Associate Clinical Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology (and former Chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility) at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, he also holds an appointment as Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Social Medicine and a Master of Science degree in medical statistics.Click here for Dr. Barad's Curriculum Vitae .

If you are a physician who wishes to refer a patient to MRI, or if you are a potential patient, yourself, who may want to learn more about MRI, please call us for an appointment at 212 – 434 7055. We are located at 21East 69th Street (corner Madison Avenue) in Manhattan.