2026 Priscilla Kincaid-Smith Oration on Health
Social networks and community resilience.
Orator: Emeritus Professor Pip Pattison AO
2024 Priscilla Kincaid-Smith Oration on Health
Oration Synopsis
The 2024 oration, titled ‘Empowering women to manage menopause’, was delivered by Professor Martha Hickey. On 6 March 2024, The Lancet launched their first clinical series on menopause, led by Professor Martha Hickey. During her oration, Professor Hickey discussed and how gendered ageism may contribute to negative experiences and called for reduced stigma around menopause and greater recognition of the value and contribution of older women.
About the Orator
Martha Hickey is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne and an NHMRC Leadership (L2) Fellow. Her main clinical and research interests are in menopause. In her clinical practice at The Women’s, she leads Australia’s largest menopause service and established the first multidisciplinary service for managing menopause after cancer, now replicated internationally.
She is an enthusiastic proponent of evidence based medicine, and an Editor for the Cochrane Collaboration. She is the Clinical Expert for the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines in menopause, due to report in May 2024. She was invited to lead the first Lancet Clinical Series on Menopause, to be published on International Women’s Day this year.
To ensure women’s voices are heard in menopause research she led the development of the first Core Outcome Set and is leading the global Menopause Priority Setting Partners (MAPS) to set a new, patient-focused research agenda. She is frustrated by the medicalization of menopause and negative portrayal of ageing in women. In 2021 she led the Flesh after Fifty arts and health project aiming to challenge and change this narrative using positive images and stories. Flesh after Fifty has been viewed by over 50,000 people and is still touring.