Mount Sinai Announces Rowan Women's Health Center

Summary

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Bloomberg Businessweek Podcast Summary

Episode: Mount Sinai Announces Rowan Women's Health Center
Date: May 1, 2026
Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec
Featured Guest: Dr. Fanny Elahi, Associate Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Overview

This episode spotlights the launch of the Rowan Center for Women’s Health at Mount Sinai and explores the scientific frontiers and key challenges in women’s health and aging. Dr. Fanny Elahi discusses why women face a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease, the real science behind anti-aging innovations, and practical, evidence-based advice for reducing dementia risk. The conversation thoughtfully distinguishes medical fact from hype, particularly around hormone replacement therapy and lifestyle interventions.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Rowan Women’s Health Center and Its Mission

• Formally Launching Women’s Health Initiatives:
  • Dr. Elahi shares excitement about moving ongoing work into a dedicated center that takes “a holistic approach to understanding risk factors in women and aging trajectories.” (03:39)
• Filling Gaps in Research:
  • The center aims to address longstanding questions about why women are disproportionately affected by Alzheimer’s and to use cutting-edge tools to investigate biological risk factors unique to women. (03:39, 04:38)

Why Are Women at Greater Risk for Alzheimer’s?

• Longevity Alone Doesn’t Explain It:
  • Tim jokes about women’s higher life expectancy. Dr. Elahi points out that, “Correcting for that extra lifespan does not actually explain the increased risk… there are biological risk factors or fundamental differences between women’s and men’s biology.” (04:38)
• Unique Pathways of Vulnerability:
  • Dr. Elahi’s lab focuses on how blood vessels age differently in women and men—especially around menopause, a key life phase that is “not all hormonal” but involves profound physiological changes. (06:39)
  • “That biology that shifts is part of the risk for conditions later in life, such as Alzheimer’s disease.” (07:14)
• Role of Menopause:
  • The team has found menopause marks a drastic change in physiology, and this might contribute to later-life disease risk.

Sorting Fact from Hype in Women’s Health and Aging

• Importance of Rigorous Science:
  • Dr. Elahi stresses the necessity of “rigorous randomized clinical trial design” to assess anti-aging interventions, drawing parallels with drug trials for aspirin and cholesterol. (05:28)
  • Mount Sinai is launching clinical trials testing “combination treatments to slow down the aging process.” (05:51)
• Caution on Social Media Claims:
  • Hosts and Dr. Elahi discuss the proliferation of dubious aging cures and the need to separate evidence-based medicine from hype. (05:04, 06:06)

What Works: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) & Lifestyle

• HRT: Potential but Not a Panacea:
  • “There may be benefit to some individuals being on hormone replacement therapy…but it wouldn’t solve the Alzheimer’s problem…other interventions [are needed].” (08:14)
  • Women should “have the conversation about hormone replacement therapy,” especially around menopause, as the timing influences risks and benefits. (09:10, 09:51)
• Lifestyle Interventions are Crucial:
  • Dr. Elahi’s practical advice (09:10):
    • Exercise regularly (“Exercise, exercise, exercise.”)
    • Maintain a healthy diet, particularly the Mediterranean diet
    • Prioritize sleep and screen for sleep apnea
    • Take lifestyle measures as seriously as medication: “They have real impact on the biology…can truly diminish one’s risk.”
• Timing for HRT Discussions:
  • Best to “start having discussions with their doctor about it right around menopause,” as delayed intervention may lose benefits and only carry risks. (09:51)

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Notable Quotes

• On why women’s risk is higher:

  “Correcting for that extra lifespan does not actually explain the increased risk. No, there are biological risk factors—fundamental differences between women’s biology and men’s biology.”
  — Dr. Fanny Elahi (04:38)

• On menopause and dementia risk:

  “There’s this drastic shift and the physiology of women really changes…that biology that shifts is part of the risk for conditions later in life, such as Alzheimer’s disease.”
  — Dr. Fanny Elahi (07:14)

• On HRT and Alzheimer’s prevention:

  “There may be benefit to some individuals being on hormone replacement therapy. The question is for how long and how much of an effect…it would not solve the Alzheimer’s problem, to put it that way.”
  — Dr. Fanny Elahi (08:14)

• Actionable advice for women:

  “Exercise, exercise, exercise…work on sleep, do sleep studies to make sure you don’t have sleep apnea. Healthy diet, including the Mediterranean diet. All of these are basically as though we’re taking drugs. They have real impact on the biology.”
  — Dr. Fanny Elahi (09:10)

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Timeline of Key Segments

• [02:22] – Tim introduces the topic of cellular rejuvenation and aging therapies in the news
• [03:11] – Intro of Dr. Fanny Elahi and new Rowan Center for Women’s Health
• [04:25] – Discussion on why women are more at risk for Alzheimer’s
• [05:04] – Sorting clinical evidence from hype and media claims
• [05:28] – Dr. Elahi on the need for rigorous clinical trials for anti-aging therapies
• [06:39] – Explanation of Dr. Elahi’s research on vascular aging differences
• [07:34] – The evolving science around hormones and menopause
• [08:14] – The nuanced role of hormone replacement therapy in Alzheimer’s prevention
• [09:10] – Dr. Elahi’s evidence-based wellness recommendations
• [09:51] – Best timing for discussing HRT with doctors

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Memorable Moments

• Tim’s lighthearted observation: “Women live longer. Is that why we are more at risk?” (04:25)
• Repeated emphasis from Dr. Elahi on the power of lifestyle changes: “All of these are basically as though we’re taking drugs. They have real impact on the biology.” (09:10)

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Takeaways

• The Rowan Center for Women’s Health represents a significant investment in research and clinical care focused on women’s unique aging trajectories.
• Women’s heightened Alzheimer’s risk is not just a product of living longer—it is rooted in biological and physiological differences, particularly around menopause.
• Rigorous science (not hype or hearsay) is essential to advance anti-aging therapies and dementia prevention.
• Evidence-based lifestyle changes—exercise, diet, sleep—remain the most effective strategies to reduce risk, with hormone therapy potentially playing a nuanced, individualized role.

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For listeners seeking actionable health advice and a clearer understanding of women’s health science, this episode delivers a candid, up-to-date perspective directly from a leading research expert.

Transcript

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[Carol Massar]

You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec audience on Bloomberg Radio.

[Tim Stenovec]

Hey, I have to say I am a bit obsessed with a recent story just asked my team that was in the New York Times. It wrote a new therapy that has the potential to cure hundreds of diseases and even reverse aging. And the story from the Times and this is a quote from the article.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Many scientists now believe that mastering cellular

[Tim Stenovec]

rejuvenation may be the key to transforming

[Narrator/Advertiser]

how long and how well we live.

[Tim Stenovec]

Some hope that they might eventually be

[Narrator/Advertiser]

able to harness the process to cure

[Tim Stenovec]

hundreds of diseases, extend life by decades, and even fend off aging entire again. Credit to the Times on this and

[Narrator/Advertiser]

what they looked into, Tim.

[Tim Stenovec]

It's all about what triggers rejuvenation. And they've done this in the lab. And apparently there's been a series of breakthroughs that have made that future feel tantalizingly close again. That's how the Times describe it.

[Carol Massar]

We're not there yet, though.

[Tim Stenovec]

No, we're not.

[Host/Interviewer]

Lots of groups, though, working on this, including a new women's center at Mount Sinai. So let's get to the BusinessWeek women's health segment, where we focus on key issues and developing technologies impacting the present and future of women's health around the world. It's great to have back with us Dr. Fanny Elahi, Associate professor of neurology and neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine in Mount Sinai. She joins us once again from New York City. Thanks so much for joining us. I want to talk about rejuvenation, but tell us about this new chapter that you're embarking on right now.

[Dr. Fanny Elahi]

It's a pleasure to be back. The new chapter is basically just formalizing a lot of effort that Mount Sinai and other health care systems have put into advancing women's health. I am a neurodegenerative disease specialist. I want to understand the causes, drivers of dementia in order to prevent it. And we've known for a really long time that women are at much higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease than men, but the root causes of that have not been understood. And so this new center, the Rowan center for Women's Health, is taking a holistic approach to understanding risk factors in women and aging trajectories.

[Tim Stenovec]

Hey, you know, Tim and I are looking at each other, and I'm like, oh, great, you guys, you know, another win for you all.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

And he says, well, women live longer.

[Tim Stenovec]

Is it. Is that why we are more at risk, because we live longer? Are there certain things, in terms of our composition, our makeup, that make us women more susceptible? And it's not just about that.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

We live longer.

[Tim Stenovec]

Sorry, Tim.

[Dr. Fanny Elahi]

It's really interesting. We are more resilient. We do live longer. But correcting for that extra lifespan does not actually explain the increased risk. No, there are biological risk factors or fundamental differences between women's biology and men's biology. And with the new tools at our disposal, we want to tap into understanding those pathways of vulnerability.

[Carol Massar]

What, what is? What is.

[Host/Interviewer]

How do you separate what actually works and what's, what's been tested? What's been proven in a clinical setting with a randomized Controlled trial versus, you know, people who come to you and say, hey, this, I saw this. This is supposed to be to reverse aging. This is supposed to help me. This is supposed to help me neurologically. It's what I've seen, it's what I'm seeing on social media. How do you separate the hype from what works?

[Dr. Fanny Elahi]

You need to do rigorous clinical trials. There's a lot of really exciting science emerging, including from the Ican school of medicine. The next chapter is to use the same methodologies that we've used for things like aspirin, drugs for cholesterol, the same rigorous randomized clinical trial design in order to test the anti aging therapeutics. And we are undertaking a really exciting clinical trial at Mount Sinai that will test combination treatments to slow down the aging process. So this is really the next chapter for extending healthspan.

[Tim Stenovec]

Yeah, it's really fascinating. I am kind of obsessed. It's funny, we've done a lot of reporting. I think even in the Times story, they just talk about a lot of wealthy individuals who are obsessed and pouring money into it. I want to go back to something you said about the pathways to vulnerability for women. What are those pathways in particular? And there's so much out there on social media, you have to be very careful, but things where they say, here's how you can maybe fend off dementia or what you should be doing. And I don't know whether it's exercise, keeping the mind busy, just these different things that they talk about.

[Dr. Fanny Elahi]

I'll give a very concrete example. Based on work that my lab is doing, we are really focused on understanding how blood vessels age, we think is a fundamental component of aging of every organ system, including the brain. And we've uncovered really striking differences between the trajectory of vascular aging in women and men. And one of the really big differences in our lifespan is this middle age where women undergo menopause. What's surprising to me, and this is the beauty of data driven studies, is that it's not all hormonal. There's this drastic shift and, and the physiology of women really changes and. And I can't help but think that that biology that shifts is part of the risk for conditions later in life, such as Alzheimer's disease.

[Tim Stenovec]

So, you know, we go back to. And I can't remember if we've spoken with you about this before, but I know in this segment we often bring it up, especially when it comes to women in menopause. The study, when it comes to hormones and how that's been rethought because there were flaws or the outcome maybe wasn't true. And that we're now learning that women should maybe be taking hormones as they're going into menopause or before it. So what's your thinking around that? Of course, every case is individual. I understand that in terms of healthcare and treatment. But is that part of something that can help women in this process, especially when it comes to our neurological aging?

[Dr. Fanny Elahi]

Yes, we think that there may be benefit to some individuals being on hormone replacement therapy. The question is for how long and how much of an effect is it going to have on Alzheimer's per se? And I think those studies are ongoing, but our data so far suggests that there may be an effect, but it wouldn't solve the Alzheimer's problem, to put it that way. So just going on hormone replacement therapy in of itself without understanding more of the biology and having other interventions is not going to stop women from having the higher risk of Alzheimer's disease.

[Tim Stenovec]

Dr. Lahi, we have about a minute left and I'm just curious for women or men who their wives, their sisters, their daughters, whatever might be listening or friends. So what is your advice? What is your advice to women based on what you know and what you're looking into?

[Dr. Fanny Elahi]

I would say that for women, they should have the conversation about hormone replacement therapy because outside of Alzheimer's disease, it can have other benefits and it may also benefit Alzheimer's. I would say exercise, exercise, exercise, work on sleep, do sleep studies to make sure you don't have sleep apnea. Healthy diet, including the Mediterranean diet. All of these are basically as though we're taking drugs. They have real impact on the biology is what we have discovered. So taking lifestyle measures seriously can, can truly diminish one's risk.

[Host/Interviewer]

Just very briefly, the hormone replacement therapy, what, what age should women start having discussions with their doctor about it?

[Dr. Fanny Elahi]

Right around menopause. I would not wait long because I think what we do know for sure is that if you wait too long post menopause, you may lose the benefit and only have the risk.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Learning something.

[Host/Interviewer]

I feel like we hear about hormone replacement therapy almost every week.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

We do.

[Tim Stenovec]

We bring it up. Yeah, we talk about it all the time. Dr. Fanny Elahi joining us, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Associate professor of Neurology and neuroscience joining us right here in New York City. Thank you. Thank you. Look forward already to our next chat with you.

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