I'm JoAnn Pinkerton. I'm a gynecologist and direct the Midlife Health Center for the University of Virginia. I'm passionate about menopausal women and prevention of women's health issues. So mostly menopausal women between 40 and 70 but once you're in my practice, you often stay in my practice, so the age range varies all the way up to 102 is my oldest. 

So I have three children, and so having children definitely affected my life as well as what I chose to do, and I wanted to teach and do clinical care and research and menopause was a field that allowed me to do all of that. 

My chairman asked me to start a menopausal clinic, so I did. Not having any idea, that it would take over my life. I am really passionate about women's health and allowing women to age with great health so that we prevent medical disease. I want women to have excellent health as they age. 

When new patients come in we get to know them, we take out a really complete history and physical but mostly we're interested in how they are going through menopause, what particular systems they're having, and any adverse factors that they have because some women just have health questions, some women are much more complicated. 

Besides taking care of menopausal women, I also want to help women and providers learn about hormone therapy, about who it's safe for, who should take it, who shouldn't take it and for women who can't take it, what are their other options. So I've done research in this field, I teach in this field, I write in this field. 

I love delivering babies, and I love taking care of women, and every time I read about women's health I am more interested. 

Because the University of Virginia has cutting edge, we are the future and we know what's going on and we work as a team. So it doesn't matter if you come to see me in gynecology or in medicine, we all work together to try take care of our patients.