For over 20 years, Dr. Pauline M. Maki has led a program of NIH-funded research focused on the role of sex steroid hormones on cognition, mood, brain function (neuroimaging) and stress responsivity in women. Women’s cognitive abilities, mood, and response to stress can be affected by changes in sex hormones, like estrogen, including changes that occur during the menopausal transition, during pregnancy, and across the menstrual cycle.  In particular, the goal of her work is to improve the lives of women by identifying factors that alter their risk of cognitive decline and affective disorders. 

Dr. Maki received her Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1994. She received post-graduate training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the dementias of aging and at the National Institute on Aging in neuroimaging. In 1999, she joined the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging. In 2002, she joined the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Dr. Maki is best known for her contributions to the field of menopause and cognition. A central focus of her research has been the effects of hormone therapy (HT) and alternative treatments for menopausal symptoms on cognition, mood, and brain function in women. Professor Maki’s primary contribution to clinical practice is her research on the risks and benefits of HT on cognition and brain function.