Gillian Einstein, PHD

Adjunct Scientist, Women’s College Research Institute
Associate Professor of Psychology, University of Toronto
Associate Professor of Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
Founder, Collaborative Graduate Program in Women’s Health, University of Toronto
Scientific Associate Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Guest Professor of Neuroscience and Gender Medicine, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

Gillian Einstein, PhD, studies how the structure and function of the brain is influenced by the context of people’s lives, especially sex and gender. These influences include hormones and genes, as well as culture, social environment and personal life experiences. In turn, these factors can influence our health and successful aging. Her lab recruits women, men and gender-diverse individuals to explore how their brains and behaviour react and respond when they experience sex-specific health conditions, medical treatments or social practices. They investigate outcomes on the brain, as well as on individuals’ feminine/masculine identities, with the goal of promoting better science, precision medicine and healthier communities. Her current funded project is to study the effects of estrogen withdrawal on cognition in young women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

PhD, Anatomy, University of Pennsylvania, 1984

  • Wilfred and Joyce Posluns Chair in Women’s Brain Health and Aging
  • Golden Mind-Body Medicine Lecture, University of Buffalo (2016)
  • Invited Participant, White House Conference on Mental Health (1999)
  • Duke University Alumni Distinguished Teaching Award (1999)
  • National Institutes of Health: FIRST Award (1989–1994)

  • Sex and gender
  • Estrogens and cognition
  • Female genital cutting
  • Healthy aging
  • Alzheimer’s Disease