We are delighted to welcome our keynote speakers to the Menstruation Research Conference 2026. Bringing together internationally recognised voices across menstrual, reproductive, and mental health research, these keynote sessions will offer critical insights, interdisciplinary perspectives, and thought-provoking discussions shaping the future of the field.
Dr. Jane M Ussher
Professor of Women’s Health Psychology, Western Sydney University, Australia
Jane M. Ussher is a Professor of Women’s Health Psychology at Western Sydney University, Australia. She serves as editor of the Routledge Women and Psychology book series and the journal Women’s Reproductive Health. A former President of both the Australian Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, she is also a Fellow of the British Psychological Society.
Jane has authored 12 books, including Managing the Monstrous Feminine and The Madness of Women: Myth and Experience. She is also the co-editor of The Routledge Handbook of Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health and Trans Reproductive and Sexual Health: Justice, Embodiment, and Agency.
Talk title: Missing Bodies, Missing Knowledge: Diversity and Inclusion in Women’s Health Research
Historically, women were excluded from medical research because menstruation, pregnancy and menopause were seen as contaminating influences. Knowledge built on male bodies was then inappropriately applied to women, producing misdiagnosis and mistreatment. Women’s health research risks repeating this malpractice when it centres participants who are white, cisgender, heterosexual and able bodied, treating their experience as universal. Drawing on my research into menstruation, menopause and mental health among culturally diverse communities, LGBTIQ+ people and people with disability, this talk demonstrates how knowledge shifts when we acknowledge diversity and intersectionality, and what is lost when we do not.
Helen Lynn
Senior Consultant and Research Fellow at Wen (Women’s Environmental Network) and Associate Research Fellow at the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at the University of Exeter.
Helen Lynn has over 30 years’ experience working at the intersection of gender, equity, health and the environment. Her career has focused on research and advocacy, including 18 years with Wen (Women’s Environmental Network), where she has worked across local to international contexts.
Her work addresses the gendered dimensions of toxic chemical exposure, and menstrual health. She has led and supported campaigns advocating for stronger chemicals regulation, including systematic integration and consideration of the impacts on women and affected communities into policy and decision-making.
She has authored publications aimed at increasing awareness, engagement and informed debate around environmental and occupational health risks and gender equity.
Talk Title: Gender bias, social stigma or vested interests – what is preventing the regulation of period products?
This presentation critically examines the absence of specific regulatory frameworks for period products and questions the influence of gender bias, vested interests and social stigma. It questions can the discovery of health harming metals, toxic chemicals and pesticides in many period products be acceptable in the 21st century.
Menstruation Research Conference 