The Coalition for Women’s Brain Health (CWBH) is proud to launch its Mind Matters: Women’s Brain Health Unveiled interview series with Emily Jacobs, PhD, Director of the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative. In this inaugural conversation, Dr. Jacobs reflects on her path into brain health research, shares insights into her current work, and highlights the critical need to address how understudied and underrepresented women’s brain health remains in scientific research. She also discusses her hopes for the future—both for advancing understanding in this field and for empowering the next generation of researchers to close these gaps and drive meaningful change.

Resources mentioned in the interview can be accessed below:

Coalition & Research Initiatives

• Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative (WBHI)
  Directed by Dr. Emily Jacobs at UC Santa Barbara, WBHI leads pioneering research on how hormonal transitions such as pregnancy and menopause influence the human brain.
• WBHI Brain Bank
  A flagship open-access project pooling neuroimaging data from seven University of California campuses to accelerate discovery in women’s brain health.
• Maternal Brain Project
  A global initiative mapping how the brain transforms during and after pregnancy—shedding light on neuroplasticity, postpartum mental health, and lifelong well-being.

Research & Academic Partners

• University of California, Santa Barbara – Home to the Ann S. Bowers Women’s Brain Health Initiative.
• University of Michigan – Site of Dr. Jill Becker’s seminal research on dopamine and estrogen.
• Stanford University – Serves as the data core for the WBHI Brain Bank project.

Global Collaborators & Funding Bodies

• Wellcome Leap – Supporting menopause and neurological health research through the CARE program.
• Chan Zuckerberg Initiative – Partnering with WBHI on AI-driven data science initiatives.
• National Institutes of Health – Office of Research on Women’s Health – Federal partner advancing research on health conditions affecting women.

Professional & Advocacy Networks

• Organization for Human Brain Mapping – International society promoting brain imaging research and collaboration.
• Women in Data Science – Partner organization behind the WBHI global hackathon and datathon.
• Santa Barbara Women’s Health Coalition – Community collaborator promoting women’s health engagement and outreach.