Wellness Blog

by Brian Grosam, PhD, LAc, ABORM

Discovering a New Path

I became a menopause expert almost by accident. In the summer of 2007, while working on my PhD in acupuncture in Jinan, China, I was learning alongside my clinical professor, Dr. Qihua Shan, at a busy Chinese medicine hospital. As I entered my second year, it was time to choose my research path. Though I was initially set on specializing in neurological acupuncture, the universe had other plans.

After proposing several topics, none of which Dr. Shan approved, she suggested menopause as a research focus. Menopause, she noted, was a growing concern globally, and her husband, Dr. Fudong Wu, had recently conducted research on acupuncture’s benefits for menopausal symptoms. She believed this would be a worthwhile topic, as it combined neurology and endocrinology. Thus, my journey began.

The Beginning of a Lifelong Journey

In 2009, I completed my PhD research on acupuncture’s effects on menopausal symptoms. While my results showed that acupuncture was moderately effective, it only worked for some patients. This discrepancy drove my curiosity and desire to understand why some women improved while others did not. For the next 15 years, I immersed myself in classical Chinese medical Read More