First Lady Pool Reports of January 11, 2024

FLOTUS Chicago visit pool report #1 - roundtable

Roundtable

First Lady Jill Biden visited Chicago Thursday afternoon as a part of the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research launched in November 2023.

The First Lady, Congresswomen Lauren Underwood and Robin Kelly arrived at 12:45 p.m. Thursday at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. Actress Halle Berry and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle welcomed the three at O'Hare.

Biden later joined a roundtable discussion at the University of Illinois Chicago with Berry, also a women's health advocate; Underwood, Kelly, Preckwinkle, members of the White House Gender Policy Council and UIC researchers and graduate students.

The roundtable highlighted the importance of advancing research on women's health, especially menopause.

"If you ask any woman about her health care in America, she likely has a story to tell," Biden said. "Women in this country live longer than men. But what are those years like? Can you pick up your grandchildren without pain? Can you walk around the block without feeling tired? These women live with chronic diseases that we don't know enough about and that don't have effective treatment options."

"I think money needs to be raised and allocated so that doctors can be retooled so that we can have more experts," Berry said. "So that every woman has an opportunity to get quality, premium care and not just be told you have to just white knuckle it, it will eventually pass."

UIC's Dr. Pauline Maki is a leading researcher in the field of menopause and cognition. She joined the discussion Thursday to highlight her and her team's research.

"There's such excitement in the field about what you're doing," Maki said to Biden. "We see such promise. This initiative will transform women's health research and that means we will transform people's lives."

Student researchers also shared details about their work. One student's research focuses on how sleep is disrupted by menopause, particularly due to hot flashes. Another shared their work on how menopause impacts memory.

Biden did not take any questions from reporters. A tour with UIC researchers followed the roundtable.

The full list of participants on the roundtable:

• Halle Berry, Academy Award-winning actress and women's health advocate
• Dr. Pauline Maki, UIC professor of psychiatry, psychology and obstetrics & gynecology
• Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, 14th District of Illinois
• Congresswoman Robin Kelly, 2nd District of Illinois
• Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President
• Dr. Carolyn Mazure, chair of the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research
• Jennifer Klein, assistant to the president and director of the White House Gender Policy Council
• Alexandra Paget-Blanc, graduate student at UIC
• Rachel Schroeder, graduate student at UIC

Full visit background:
Visit to Chicago, Illinois
As part of the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research, the First Lady will visit the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). During this visit, Dr. Biden will be joined by Academy Award-winning actress and women's health advocate, Halle Berry. The First Lady and Halle Berry will participate in a roundtable discussion and a tour with researchers at UIC to highlight the importance of advancing research on women's health, including menopause. The White House Initiative on Women's Health Research was launched in November 2023.
Airport Arrival:
At 12:45 PM, the First Lady, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, and Congresswoman Robin Kelly will arrive at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois. They will be greeted by:

• Halle Berry, Academy Award-winning actress and women's health advocate
• Toni Preckwinkle, President of the Cook County Board of Supervisors

Visit to the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)
At 1:35 PM, the First Lady and Halle Berry will visit the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). During the visit, they will participate in a roundtable discussion and a tour with researchers at UIC to highlight the importance of advancing research on women's health, including menopause.

UIC's Dr. Pauline Maki is renowned for her contributions to the field of menopause and cognition. During the roundtable and tour, Dr. Pauline Maki and members of her research laboratory will showcase their innovative research on menopause and cognition, which aims to improve the lives of women.

Background on the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research:
Launched by the President and the First Lady in November 2023, the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research aims to fundamentally change how we approach and fund women's health research. The effort will galvanize the Federal government as well as the private and philanthropic sectors to spur innovation, unleash transformative investment to close research gaps, and improve women's health.

This first-of-its-kind effort is led by First Lady Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council. The Initiative is chaired by Dr. Carolyn Mazure, an esteemed leader in the field of women's health research.

As a first step, through a Presidential Memorandum, the President directed his Administration to:

1. Establish an Initiative consisting of executive departments and agencies across the Federal government. Initiative members include Federal agencies, such as the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Veterans Affairs, and White House offices, such as the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
2. Deliver concrete recommendations to advance women's health research. Initiative members are recommending concrete actions that the Biden-Harris Administration can take to improve how research on women's health is conducted and maximize the Administration's investments in women's health research, including to address health disparities and inequities.
3. Take a targeted, high-impact approach. To deliver results quickly, Initiative members will set priority areas of focus where additional investments could be transformative—in areas of research ranging from heart attacks in women to menopause.
4. Engage the scientific, private sector, and philanthropic communities. The Initiative will explore new public-private partnerships and engage private and philanthropic leaders to drive innovation and ensure the combined power of public, private, and philanthropic sectors advances research on women's health.

FLOTUS Chicago visit pool report #2 - first tour stop

Tour stop #1

Following Thursday's roundtable talk, the First Lady Jill Biden and Halle Berry were taken on a tour and learned from UIC researchers about their ongoing work exploring menopause and cognition.

During the first stop of the tour, researchers demonstrated to Biden and Berry how they collect and analyze data on menopause by using wearable devices that measure hot flashes and sleep.

Congresswomen Lauren Underwood and Robin Kelly and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle also joined the tour.

Dr. Pauline Maki, who also participated in the earlier discussion, led the tour along with Alexandra Paget-Blanc, a neuroscience doctoral student at UIC. Tracy Weems, executive assistant to the dean of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, participated in a demonstration of the devices.

Paget-Blanc's clinical research has looked into the disparities Black and Hispanic women experience during menopause compared to other groups of women.

She demonstrated how a hot flash monitor, DREEM headband and actigraph watch take certain measurements for their research. Those measurements inform how women's sleep is disrupted by menopausal symptoms like hot flashes.

"It doesn't take a PhD in neuroscience to know that if you haven't slept well, your memory is not going to be very good," Maki said. "So in women, we have a unique pattern of sleep disruption that contributes to their memory problems. They're waking up at night because they're having hot flashes."

FLOTUS Chicago visit pool report #3 - second tour stop

During the second stop of the tour, the First Lady Jill Biden and Halle Berry learned from UIC researchers about the results of their studies on menopause and the importance of those findings.

Congresswomen Lauren Underwood and Robin Kelly and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle also attended the tour.

They were joined again by Dr. Pauline Maki, a UIC professor of psychiatry, psychology and obstetrics & gynecology, and UIC PhD students Katrina Wugalter, Rachel Schroder and Jacob Van Doorn.

Their research explores how menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and the hormone estrogen impact cognition.

Maki said studying how menopause impacts a woman's brain is foundational for not only understanding menopause better, but also to properly treat symptoms.

"So that's a little bit of a tour of how we do our clinical research and what we found so far. But most importantly, the need for much, much, much, much more research in this area," Maki said.

FLOTUS pool report 1 – Groton, Connecticut

First Lady Jill Biden arrived at the Submarine Force Museum at 7:50 pm, where she was introduced by the Commanding Officer of the USS Delaware, Cmdr. Robert A. Low.

Dr. Biden, wearing a pink jacket and skirt, delivered holiday greetings to the crew of the Delaware and their families. She recalled feeling her "first connection" when she was presented with renderings of the Virginia-class attack submarine more than a decade ago, while she was Second Lady.

"I feel it today not only as Delaware's sponsor, but also I am the daughter of a WW2 Navy veteran and a National Guard mom who has seen her son deployed to Iraq for a year...So I've seen the heart of this team and I'm proud and humbled to be your shipmate for life," Dr. Biden said.

The First Lady concluded her remarks at 7:55, she did not take questions from pool reporters.

Afterwards, Dr. Biden posed for photos with many couples and families from the U.S.S. Delaware, and handed members of the crew her challenge coins. Cmdr. Low also handed out boxes of White House M&Ms to the crew and their families.

Members of the press pool were led out of the museum around 8:15, prior to Dr. Biden's departure. There was a crowd of around a dozen pro-Palestinian protestors gathered at the entrance to the Submarine Museum and Naval Station New London.

REPORTABLE BACKGROUND FROM THE OFFICE OF THE FIRST LADY

Background | First Lady Jill Biden to Visit Groton, Connecticut – Thursday 1/11

Visit to Groton, Connecticut

As part of her Joining Forces initiative to support military families, the First Lady will attend a holiday gathering at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, CT with the USS Delaware's crew and families.

Airport Arrival
The First Lady will arrive at Groton-New London Airfield in Groton, CT. She will be greeted by the following individuals:

• Senator Richard Blumenthal, State of Connecticut
• Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, State of Connecticut
• Mayor Rachael Franco, Town of Groton
• Mayor Michael Passero, City of New London
• Chair Rodney Butler, Mashantucket Pequot Tribe
• Vice Chairwoman Sarah Harris, Mohegan Indian Tribe
• Rear Admiral Andrew Miller, Commander, Undersea Warfighting Development Center
• Mrs. Jo Miller, Spouse of Rear Admiral Andrew Miller

Visit to the Submarine Force Museum
Upon arrival to the Submarine Force Museum, the First Lady will greet the following participants and crew members of the USS Delaware:

• Mayor Rachael Franco , Town of Groton
• Mayor Keith Hedrick, City of Groton, CT
• Commodore Thomas O'Donnell, Commanding Officer, Submarine Squadron 12
• Mrs. Karen O'Donnell, Spouse of Commodore Thomas O'Donnell
• Commander Robert Low, Commanding Officer of the USS Delaware
• Mrs. Megan Low, Spouse of Commander Robert Low
• Lieutenant Commander Christopher Glacken, Executive Officer of the USS Delaware
• Mrs. Nicole Cruz-Glacken, Spouse of Lieutenant Commander Christopher Glacken
• Master Chief Zachary Nielsen, Chief of the Boat, USS Delaware
• Mrs. Karli Pauline Nielsen, Spouse of Master Chief Zachary Nielsen

Background on the First Lady's engagement with the USS Delaware
The First Lady has been an active sponsor of the USS Delaware since she was named the ship's sponsor in 2016, her previous engagements include:

• In April 2022, the First Lady's attended the ship's commissioning ceremony and provided remarks.
• In December 2021, she joined the USS Delaware's crew and families for a holiday party hosted by United Through Reading.
• In October 2018, the First Lady christened the USS Delaware with the traditional breaking of a bottle of champagne across the bow of the ship.
• In April 2016, the First Lady attended the keel laying ceremony, in which she signed her initials on the keel that was later welded onto the ship.

About the First Lady's Joining Forces Initiative
Since day one of the Biden-Harris Administration, the First Lady has prioritized military-connected families through her Joining Forces initiative, which supports those who also serve: military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors. Guided by the life experiences and the perspectives voiced during in-person and virtual listening sessions with military-connected families and stakeholders, the work and priorities of Joining Forces centers on the needs of this population in the areas of: Economic Opportunity; Military Child Education; and Health and Well-Being.

The First Lady has visited over 26 military installations; worked with Joining Forces partners to support over 50 events with the military-connected community; and helped coordinate the Administration's efforts to increase and raise awareness of resources and support for military and veteran families, caregivers, and survivors.