Over half of of all post-menopausal women experience urinary incontinence. So, you are in good company if laughing, coughing, jumping, or even just sitting cause you to leak urine (a little or alot). You also may be familiar with the cramping, burning and pain of urinary tract infections (UTIs) – which reoccur more frequently after menopause. We must stop accepting these symptoms as par for the course. There are actions we can take and treatments that work — but only if we, and our doctors, know about them and use them. We are so excited that the guest host for this Menopause Talk is Dr. Sharon Malone, a 30-year ob-gyn who is now Medical Director of Alloy. Dr. Malone will speak with Dr. Cheryl Iglesia and Dr. Jocelyn Fitzgerald, two esteemed urogynecologists and advance pelvic surgeons, about how to treat menopausal urinary problems which truly are no laughing matter.
Dr. Sharon Malone is the Medical Director of Alloy, the new telehealth platform for women focused on perimenopause and menopause. Alloy health, along with Dr. Malone, seek to democratize the experience of menopause and ensure that women have access to science-based information and clinically proven treatment options. Prior to assuming her position at Alloy, Dr. Malone served women across Washington DC in her almost 30 years as a practicing Ob/Gyn. She remains one of the nation’s leading obstetrician / gynecologists with a focus on the specific health challenges associated with menopause. Dr. Malone graduated from Harvard and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed her residency at The George Washington University.
Dr. Malone’s upbringing shapes her approach to educating and empowering women. Born at home (the two nearby hospitals didn’t adequately serve Black women in childbirth), and the youngest of 8 children, she was raised in Mobile, Alabama. Her sister, Vivian Malone, integrated the University of Alabama in 1963. Her enrollment prompted Governor George Wallace’s infamous Stand in the Schoolhouse Door. Then, Dr. Malone helped integrate the white Catholic school across the street from her house. Raised by siblings after the death of her mother, Sharon Malone’s upbringing included changing schools four times in four years in three different states. Dr. Malone found strength and resilience in community, in her own work ethic and in her strong belief that there are no accidents in the universe.
Jocelyn J. Fitzgerald, MD is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She completed her Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship at Georgetown University/MedStar Health with the National Center for Advanced Pelvic Surgery and her Gynecology and Obstetrics residency at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She also attended medical school at the University of Pittsburgh and graduated from the Physician Scientist Training Program.
Before medical school, Dr. Fitzgerald attended The Schreyer Honors College at Penn State University and earned dual degrees in Neurobiology and Women’s Studies with an emphasis in Women’s Health. Her research has focused on mechanisms of female chronic pelvic and bladder pain, patient-centered outcomes of gynecologic surgery, and predicting how women seek care for pelvic floor disorders with a particular interest in the role of social media in medicine.
Dr. Cheryl B. Iglesia, Professor in the Departments of Ob/Gyn and Urology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, is a double-board certified Obstetrician/Gynecologist and Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery specialist. Since 1999, Dr. Iglesia has been the inaugural Director of the Section of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) at MedStar Washington Hospital Center/MedStar National Center for Advanced Pelvic Surgery (NCAPS) and is the founding director of the MedStar/Georgetown accredited FPMRS fellowship program.
Dr. Iglesia is nationally and internationally recognized for advancing surgical techniques in reconstructive pelvic surgery. Among her many roles, Dr. Iglesia is the current Chair of the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network (PFDN) Advisory Board at the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and is a past chair of both the Committee for Gynecologic Practice at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the ACOG Patient Education Board. She has served as Program Chair for the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons (SGS) and the American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS) and has also served on the AUGS Board of Directors. Since 2011, Dr. Iglesia has been an appointed special governmental employee for the ObGyn Devices Panel at the US FDA. She currently is President-elect for the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons.
Special thanks to Alloy for sponsoring Menopause Talks.
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