unPAUSED with Dr. Mary Claire Haver

Today, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Suzy Welch. Suzy is a business journalist-turned-professor at NYU and a three-time New York Times bestseller who specializes in decision-making. Her podcast, Becoming You, is a weekly masterclass in the pursuit of authentic purpose—delivered with a heavy dose of wit and zero despair.  Here on unPAUSED, we talk about the medical experts and the lifestyle shifts required to reclaim your healthspan, but thriving is about more than just your physical well-being—it’s about your purpose. As we navigate the shifts in our hormones and our identities, we often find ourselves asking: “What’s next?” and “How do I make the big decisions for this new chapter?” Suzy Welch can help. Find Becoming You with Suzy Welch everywhere you get your podcasts.

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In this episode of unPAUSED, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. Lisa Mosconi, a neuroscientist and associate professor of neuroscience in neurology and radiology at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Mosconi directs the Alzheimer's Prevention Program, including the NIH-funded Women's Brain Initiative and the Alzheimer's Prevention Clinic, and was recently named director of the $50 million Program in Women's Health, Cutting Alzheimer's Risk Through Endocrinology. She is also the author of the bestselling book The Menopause Brain.

This conversation is about prevention. Dr. Mosconi has spent decades building the science that shows Alzheimer's risk in women is neither inevitable nor untreatable and that the choices women make in midlife around hormones, sleep, and nutrition have a direct, and measurable, impact on the brain's long-term health.  Together, they explore why two thirds of all Alzheimer's patients are women and what role menopause plays in that disparity. Dr. Mosconi explains the difference between the rare genetic mutations that directly cause Alzheimer's, found in roughly 2% of patients, and the risk factors that shape outcomes for the other 98%, including the distinction between early and late onset disease and between sporadic and familial Alzheimer's. Both share their own family histories with dementia and what that means for their personal risk.

Guest links:

Lisa Mosconi

Lisa Mosconi (Instagram)

Lisa Mosconi (Facebook)

Lisa Mosconi Bio (LEAP)

Books:

“The Menopause Brain: New Science Empowers Women to Navigate the Pivotal Transition with Knowledge and Confidence,” by Lisa Mosconi

“The XX Brain: The Groundbreaking Science Empowering Women to Maximize Cognitive Health and Prevent Alzheimer's Disease,” by Lisa Mosconi“Brain Food: The Surprising Science of Eating for Cognitive Power,” by Lisa Mosconi

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Poor sleep during perimenopause and menopause isn't just exhausting—it's linked to increased cardiovascular disease risk, depression, anxiety, weight gain, cognitive decline, and reduced quality of life. Yet for decades, women's sleep complaints have been minimized, dismissed, or blamed on just getting older.

In this episode, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with board-certified sleep medicine specialist Dr. Andrea Matsumura to unpack what's really happening to women's sleep during the menopause transition and what we can actually do about it. Dr. Matsumura completed her medical degree at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and her internal medicine residency in Portland, Oregon before returning to Oregon Health & Science University for a fellowship in sleep medicine, where she discovered the critical connection between women's hormones and sleep disorders.

Guest links:


Dr. Andrea Matsumura (Instagram)


Dr. Andrea Matsumura (Facebook)


Dr. Andrea Matsumura (LinkedIn)


Dr. Andrea Matsumura 


The D.R.E.A.M. Sleep Method: A Midlife Woman’s Guide to Restoring Rest

Articles


Worldwide estimation of restless legs syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence in the general adult population (Journal of Sleep Research)


Association Between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Cardiovascular Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies (Medicina)


Why sleep apnea deserves priority in public health: a call to action (European Journal of Public Health)


Poor Quality Control of Over-the-Counter Melatonin: What They Say Is Often Not What You Get (Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine)


Quantity of Melatonin and CBD in Melatonin Gummies Sold in the US (JAMA)


Sleep disorders impact hormonal regulation: unravelling the relationship among sleep disorders, hormones and metabolic diseases (Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome)


Comorbid Insomnia and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (COMISA): Current Concepts of Patient Management (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health)


Chronobiological perspectives: Association between meal timing and sleep quality (PLOS One)


Effects of red light on sleep inertia (Nature and Science of Sleep)

Other Resources


Seven or more hours of sleep per night: A health necessity for adults (American Academy of Sleep Medicine)



The D.R.E.A.M Sleep Essentials

Sleep Goddess Archetype Quiz


American Academy of Sleep Medicine


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From her groundbreaking televised colonoscopy to her breast cancer journey, Katie Couric has turned personal experience into powerful advocacy for the health issues medicine has overlooked. This week on unPaused, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Katie Couric, award-winning journalist, founder of Katie Couric Media, co-founder of Stand Up To Cancer, and author of the New York Times bestseller Going There. Katie spent 15 years co-hosting the Today Show, served as the first solo female anchor of CBS Evening News, and has interviewed nearly every president, world leader and cultural voice of the last four decades.

Together, they explore Katie's journey from growing up in Arlington, Virginia, where her parents instilled the importance of education and financial independence, to breaking barriers in network news while navigating profound personal loss. Katie opens up about losing her husband Jay to stage four colon cancer when her daughters were six and two, how that tragedy launched her into cancer advocacy, and why she made the decision to have a colonoscopy on live television — a moment that changed screening rates across America and took the stigma out of a life-saving procedure.

Guest links:


Katie Couric Media


Katie Couric (Instagram)


Katie Couric (TikTok)


Katie Couric (Facebook)


Katie Couric Media (Instagram)


Katie Couric (YouTube)


Katie Couric (X)


Katie Couric (LinkedIn)


Katie Couric (Substack)


Next Question with Katie Couric (Apple Podcasts)

Books:"The Feminine Mistake: Are We Giving Up Too Much?," by Leslie Bennetts


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Most women go through decades of marriage, menopause and midlife without ever having an honest conversation with a doctor about their sex life. Not because they don't want one — but because most physicians were never trained to have it. This week on unPaused, Dr. Mary Claire Haver sits down with Dr. James Simon, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University, board-certified OB-GYN, reproductive endocrinologist, and certified sexual counselor with more than 800 published papers in menopause and sexual medicine. Dr. Simon is a past president of the International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISSWSH) and one of the most published clinicians in modern menopause care.

Dr. Simon has spent his career treating what most doctors never address — the full picture of how sex, desire, pain and intimacy change for both women and men as they age. He treats couples together, and what he has witnessed across thousands of relationships is that the problems are rarely one person's fault, rarely unsolvable, and almost always rooted in something nobody warned them about.

Guest links:

James Simon (IntimMedicine Specialists)

James Simon (Instagram)

James Simon (YouTube)

Articles:

What if the Women’s Health Initiative had used transdermal estradiol and oral progesterone instead? (Menopause)

Erectile Dysfunction (StatPearls)

Should we be prescribing testosterone to perimenopausal and menopausal women? A guide to prescribing testosterone for women in primary care (British Journal of General Practice)

The Benefits and Harms of Systemic Testosterone Therapy in Postmenopausal Women With Normal Adrenal Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism)

Other Resources:

Women’s Health Initiative

The North American Menopause Society Releases Its 2022 Hormone Therapy Position Statement (NAMS)

International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health (ISWSH) 

FDA panel rejects testosterone patch for women on safety grounds (The BMJ)

The Saga of Testosterone for Menopausal Women at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (The Journal of Sexual Medicine)

Sexual Medicine Society of North America (SMSNA)

Books:“Restore Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Reviving her Sexual Desire and Passion for Life,” by James Simon and Victoria Houston

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