Research at WHOLE Centre

About the Project

Project Overview

WHOLE (Interdisciplinary Centre for Women’s Health Over the LifecoursE) is a 10-year research centre led by Uppsala University, focusing on women’s health at the intersection of reproductive transitions, mental health, and pain. The centre addresses conditions that are underdiagnosed and undertreated, such as endometriosis, premenstrual disorders, perinatal depression, and menopause-related mental ill-health, using an interdisciplinary life-course perspective.

Projects are already underway, and more will be affiliated in the future, as the centre strives to expand its national and international collaborative efforts. The center's research activities revolve around six working groups:

Work Group (WG) / Work Package (WP) Aims

WP1 - Lifespan Integration, Infrastructure & Governance
Establishes the overarching life-course framework of WHOLE. WP1 develops a national women’s health data infrastructure, including a new 10-year longitudinal WHOLE cohort, integrates biological, psychosocial, and register data, and ensures ethical, inclusive, and bias-aware governance. It also advances conceptual models of women’s mental health and resilience across the lifespan.

WP2 -Adolescence & Puberty
Focuses on early reproductive transitions and emerging health conditions in adolescence. WP2 investigates early gynecological conditions, adolescent mental ill-health, pain sensitization, and psychosocial vulnerability. The aim is to enable early identification of risk, develop predictive models, and co-create youth-centered preventive and support interventions.

WP3 - Reproductive Years & Menstrual Cycles
Addresses menstrual-cycle related conditions such as endometriosis and PMDD. WP3 aims to improve understanding of biological mechanisms, develop diagnostics and predictive tools, and evaluate innovative treatments. It also examines psychosocial, cultural, and work-life impacts of these conditions.

WP4 - Perinatal Period
Targets pregnancy and the postpartum period as critical windows for mental health and pain-related vulnerability. WP4 focuses on identifying risk profiles, developing AI-based prediction models, advancing preventive and stepped-care interventions, and improving long-term maternal and child health outcomes.

WP5 - Menopause & Aging
Explores the menopausal transition and aging, with emphasis on mental health, cognition, brain aging, and work-life consequences. WP5 integrates biomedical, psychosocial, and cultural perspectives and aims to develop personalized support tools, including innovative digital solutions.

WP6 -Interdisciplinarity, Communication & Dissemination
Ensures integration across disciplines and translation of research into practice. WP6 promotes co-creation with patients and stakeholders, develops communication strategies, supports capacity building, and drives dissemination, guideline development, and policy impact.