Heather is a senior lecturer within the School of Sport, Health and Exercise Science. She has been a member of the Extreme Environments Laboratory since 2007 where she completed a PhD in the area of Environmental Cross-adaptation in Humans. Prior to that she worked at the Institute of Naval Medicine within the Environmental Medicine Unit for six years. 

Heather’s research interests are in the area of human exposure to heat, cold and altitude and how we can prepare and mitigate the effects of these environments. More recently, she has become interested in establishing if these extreme environments have any benefits to health and wellbeing. She has published 50 research papers and co-authored two book chapters. She is a trustee of Swim the Wright and sits on the medical board of the Ectodermal Dysplasia Society. 

As well as her teaching and research, Heather provides advice and support to a range of companies, charities and the media on questions associated with her research. In her spare time Heather is a keen open water swimmer having successfully completed a solo crossing of the English Channel, numerous other open water swims including relay swims round Jersey, Jersey to France, round the Isle of Wight as well as representing GB in the World Ice Swimming Championships 1k event in 2017. 

In this episode, Heather tells us about how she started cold water swimming. She gives important advice for anyone who is thinking of taking up cold water swimming, and for those of us already doing it. She discusses what research has been done into cold water swimming and general health, pregnancy, menstrual and menopause symptoms. She will tell us her views about cold showers and sitting in an ice bath in our garden. Heather will share her experience of swimming the channel which ended successfully but with only seals to celebrate her arrival in France. We also discuss team sports and how we might want to revisit these. 

Follow Heather: Twitter: @H_Massey1979 / Instagram: @drheathermassey 

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-30
Duration: 43.43
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Heather Massey
Producer: Joyce Harper 

Professor Mats Brännström is an internationally renowned specialist in reproductive medicine and fertility. He has extensive expertise in women’s health, particularly infertility and IVF treatments, as well as medical research. Professor Brännström is currently the Chair of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and Medical Director at Karolinska University Hospital. His passion for improving women’s health outcomes has led him to become one of the leading experts in his field. Through his research, teaching, and activism he hopes to improve care for women around the world. 

In this episode Mats tells us what the hurdles for women’s health have been and where we still need to improve it.  We discuss his work on gynaecological oncology, infertility, and egg freezing. Mats debunks some of the myths and talks about where the future might lead. Mats is the world pioneer of womb transplants and he tells us how this started, how many cases his team have done and how many women have had babies and are currently pregnant. Mats discusses what the procedure involves and where he feels this could go in the future.  We have a growing number of celebrities who use assisted conception treatments, including surrogacy. Mats gives us his view on this. Are we entering a Brave New World?

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-27
Duration: 40.06
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Joyce Harper
Guests: Mats Brännström
Producer: Joyce Harper

In this episode, Karen talks about the importance of getting nutrition right at all stages of our lives, from the menstrual cycle to the menopause. She gives advice on how to navigate through the menopause when we can be feeling very overwhelmed and stressed. She explains the four shifts: reset, cleanse, rest and eat. And how we need to consider our relationship to caffeine, sugar, and alcohol. Her book is ideal for everyone to access and dip into to get great advice about our nutrition, whether we take HRT or not. 

Karen is a registered nutritional therapist who specialises in women's hormone health, especially at menopause, with over 10 years clinical experience. She holds a BSc in Nutritional Medicine and is registered with BANT and CNHC. She runs a specialist menopause clinic, and hosts regular retreats, corporate talks and workshops on the subject. She's very much a complementary practitioner, often working with GP menopause specialists and women on HRT. Her approach is highly practical, realistic and achievable as we deal with very low bandwidth in amongst our turbo charged, modern day world. 
Twitter: @karennewby / Instagram: karen.newby.nutritionist 

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-13
Duration: 41.45
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Karen Newby
Producer: Joyce Harper

In this episode Jo talks about how she became the first woman to paddleboard from Liverpool to Goole, picking up litter and fundraising and how that film was made into a critically acclaimed film called Brave Enough - A Journey Home to Joy. She also tells us about writing her book about beautiful places to paddleboard in the UK - the first guide devoted to SUP (stand up paddleboarding) and the SUP community. Jo’s perimenopause was a difficult time, which left her with a lack of sleep and feeling broken, whilst her Mum and Dad were both undergoing chemotherapy. In December 2013 her Mum then died. A friend had suggested she should do some exercise, and she decided to start indoor rowing, which led to paddleboarding. With her recent inclusion in a list of the 10 most influential women in the SUP, in this motivational podcast, Jo gives fantastic advice to help women and explains how she now feels like a warrior. She reveals that she is one of many postmenopausal women who are shouting from the rooftops that we can feel fantastic and lead the best lives ever.

For more information and to access the transcript: www.joyceharper.com/podcasts  

Date of episode recording: 2023-03-05
Duration: 48.21
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Jo Moseley
Producer: Joyce Harper

Journalist, broadcaster & global moderator Hannah Vaughan Jones is an Emmy-nominated British journalist. She has hosted prime time shows for CNN and Sky News, and interviewed the last three British Prime Ministers. Hannah moderates global events across the public and private sectors - specialising in global health. She is a communications consultant, runs her own media production company, and is an inaugural member of the McCain Institute’s Global Advisory Council. Her most important role is as Mum to her little boy - born after 15 rounds of IVF treatment.

In this episode Hannah will talk about her fertility journey and how it took 15 rounds of fertility treatment to conceive her son, who is now 3 years old. Joyce and Hannah discuss IVF add-ons and how Hannah was offered numerous tests and treatments on her quest to get pregnant. And how, since becoming a mother, she has thought about her identity and what this means to her. If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would you say?

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/
To find out more about Hannah: @HVaughanJones / www.hannahvaughanjones.com 

Date of episode recording: 2023-02-10
Duration: 42 mins
Language of episode: English
Presenter: Joyce Harper
Guests: Hannah Vaughan Jones
Producer: Joyce Harper

In this episode Annice will tell us about her career as an endocrinologist, who is someone who specializes in diagnosing and treating health conditions relating to the body's hormones. Annice will talk about her breast cancer diagnosis at age 41. Joyce and Annice will discuss Annice’s book, The complete guide to the menopause. Annice will talk about the importance of looking after our health, including nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress and provide lots of tips. Annice will also discuss the use of HRT and when it’s appropriate. Listen in to find out what motivates Annice, what makes her happy and her advice to her younger self. 

For more information and to access the transcript: https://joyceharper.com/podcasts/

 Date of episode recording: 2023-01-23
 Duration: 37 mins
 Language of episode: English
 Presenter:Joyce harper
 Guests: Annice Mukherjee
 Producer: Joyce Harper
 

Jessica Hepburn is an award-winning author, arts producer and adventure activist. In 2022 she became the first woman in the world to complete the 'Sea, Street, Summit Challenge’ - that is: swim the English Channel, run the London Marathon and climb Mount Everest - all of which were inspired by her own journey through infertility and IVF. She is the author of two books - The Pursuit of Motherhood and 21 Miles: swimming in search of the meaning of motherhood; the former CEO of the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith and Fertility Fest; and has been officially recognised as a ‘Woman of Suffragette Spirit’ by Amnesty International. 

In this episode, Jessica talks about her first book - The Pursuit of Motherhood - which is a raw and honest description of her journey through 11 rounds of unsuccessful fertility treatment. This led to Jessica setting up Fertility Fest, which brought together artists and fertility specialists to explore infertility. She also discusses her second book - 21 Miles - which chronicles her inspiring journey to successfully swim the channel and how along the way, she ate with 21 women and asked them “does motherhood make you happy or can you have a fulfilling life without children”. Jessica also talks about running the London Marathon and how she finally conquered Everest to become the first woman in the world to complete the sea, street, summit challenge. Listen in to find out what motivates Jessica, what makes her happy and her advice to her younger self. 

www.jessicahepburn.com 
Twitter: @JessicaPursuit 
Instagram @ jessica_hepburn_ 

Date of episode recording: 2023-01-30
Duration: 47.36 mins
Language of episode: English
Presenter:Joyce Harper
Guests: Jessica Hepburn
Producer: Joyce Harper

In this podcast Professor Joyce Harper will be interviewing guests to discuss all things health related and debunking some of the many myths around our health. In episode 1, Joyce will tell you about her work, her fertility journey, why she wrote a book on fertility and the research she is doing into reproductive health education: from teenagers to post-menopausal women. Joyce will explain when she has heard people say – why didn’t anyone tell me this? She will tell you what motivates her, what makes her happy, where is her happy place and why she thinks vision boards are such a good idea. Finally Joyce will tell you what advice she would give her younger self, which relates to the four pillars of wellbeing and how she wishes she had not have left it to her 50s to make some major health changes. 

For more information and to access the transcript: www.joyceharper.com/podcasts. This podcast is made in collaboration with UCL Minds.