28 October, 2019: 

I’ve been reading...

The Broken Eye, by Brent Weeks, described as ' epic fantasy'; I have been reading the series. I usually start during my summer holidays, which unfortunately end too soon, and then I tend to finish the books when I am in the midst of plane travel!

I’ve been researching...

Entertainment options for our international visitors who are coming to the IMS Congress in Melbourne in late April 2020. I am hoping that a large fluffy koala or kangaroo may be involved somehow.....

My team...

I am a member of a few teams! These are The Australasian Menopause Society, The Women's Health Research Program at Monash University, and Jean Hailes for Women's Health. I am incredibly lucky to work with people who are passionate about women's health and education and work hard to get evidence-based health information out to both the community and health practitioners.

An anecdote...

If you come to Melbourne to the IMS Congress https://www.imsmelbourne2020.com/ next year by plane you may see kangaroos greeting you from within the paddocks (fields) not far from the airport. There are quite a number of them and, apart from being there to welcome you, they are sometimes found hopping around the airport car-park. This is not supposed to happen but never fails to make it onto the nightly TV news bulletin. If you don't see one when you travel from Melbourne airport next year I am still working on the large variety discussed in question 2, as part of the entertainment program!

An interesting case...

One of my patients today described being exceptionally tired some months ago in the setting of having a several months old infant, who was fully breastfed. She thought the lethargy was out of context as she was otherwise managing everything quite well. She then presented to her doctor recently as she felt something moving in her abdomen. Yes, she is having another baby and didn't quite notice until she had reached the second trimester.

I’m worried about...

Being in a world in which it seems that people no longer try to look out for each other.

I’ve been thinking...

About the IMS Congress in Melbourne https://www.imsmelbourne2020.com/ next year, of course! I can't wait. It's going to be amazing. (Don't forget!)

In my spare time...

I can be found doing any of the following: pottering in my garden, on a very brisk walk with my husband and our dog Sputnik, doing Zumba or Just Dance on our home Nintendo system, or hopefully seeing a musical theatre production.

A thorn in my side...

(See the answer to question 8 about the garden, where I may be doing battle with real thorns!) At the moment the major thorn for me is a large study that examined a number of cohorts and focused on the link between breast cancer and menopausal hormone therapy. I really wish that this study had explored in more detail other factors that may be a risk for breast cancer (reproductive history, exercise, family history, smoking, alcohol, etc) in the cohorts studied. If a variety of factors could have been examined, with a comparison between factors, this would have given health practitioners and women some helpful information about breast cancer risk and how hormone therapy compares with other facts.

What challenges me...

I am challenged by trying to balance life, work, family, health, sleep, leisure and attempting to fit everything in and not disappoint anyone. I think this will continue to challenge me for some time.

Sonia Davison MBBS FRACP Ph.D. is an Endocrinologist with a special interest in Women's Health. She is a Clinical Fellow at Jean Hailes for Women’s Health and has an adjunct appointment at the Women’s Health Research Program, Monash University, Victoria, Australia. Sonia is in private practice at Cabrini Medical Centre and at Jean Hailes for Women's Health. Her Ph.D. and postdoctoral research examined sex steroid physiology in women, including measurement of androgens and their relationships with age, mood, sexual function, and cognition. Sonia is President of the Australasian Menopause Society and former editor of its newsletter, ‘Changes’.