HOPE Scholar presents at the Australasian Menopause Society

Posted by Celine Camon on 12 February 2024

Tags: Menopause

HOPE Scholar, Celine Camon, was awarded an Australasian Menopause Society (AMS) scholarship to present at their recent conference in Queenstown. Celine was also awarded the Jean Hailes Memorial Prize for the best free communication presentation by a current AMS member within 10 years of completing their tertiary degree. Congratulations Celine. Here is a write up from Celine and a link to her conference abstract.

After returning back to Dunedin and my PhD studies, I have been constantly reflecting and sharing just how absolutely blown away I was by the recent AMS Congress. As a basic scientist, I cannot express how useful it has been to be able to discuss current therapeutics and the future of menopausal treatments with leading clinicians and experts in the field. It really is invaluable to liaise with those who are patient facing and hear first-hand the symptoms, issues and concerns women are facing throughout the menopause transition. These conversations are invaluable for scientists, so we can continue to challenge our current understandings of menopause biology and develop ideas for future therapeutic interventions.

 As a final year PhD student, it was really amazing for me to take some time out from the lab and share my research with the menopause research and clinician community. Communicating my work to expert clinicians and receiving such positive feedback really helped me to put the “why” back into my PhD and give me motivation for the last push in my final year. A number of clinicians came up to me after my talk and personally thanked me for the work I am doing to help change the future of women’s health across Australasia and I could not be more humbled or appreciative.

 Obviously from a scientific perspective, the congress was an incredible and very intellectually stimulating experience, but I must also say how empowered and passionate I feel about the work I am doing as a young woman embarking on my research career. Being a member of AMS has been eye-opening for the support available in this space and I feel very privileged to have been given the opportunity to attend via the scholarship, but even more humbled for receiving the Jean Hailes Memorial Prize. As a pioneering leader of menopausal care in Australia, Jean Hailes is certainly a role model I look up to. I would particularly like to thank the AMS for the support in attending this conference and also the HOPE Foundation who generously funded this project.