Our team
Aija Lulle
Aija is the project leader. Her interest in menopause emerged from years of dedicated research and fieldwork with middle-aged migrants. “I noticed a shift: after ten years of research and more or less regular contact with my key interlocutors, some of them, including men, suddenly began to bring up the topic of menopause in our conversations,” Aija explained. The rest, as they say, is history—two years of passionate research preparations, delving into both historical and contemporary sources, all seeking to explain menopause in often contradictory ways. Today, the future is here, embodied in our exceptional team—truly transdisciplinary, with brave hearts and minds, determined to confront gendered ageism and patriarchy, and to make a meaningful difference in our fractured world.
Contact: aija.lulle[at]uef.fi
Agnese Bartolucci
Agnese joins the team as a researcher with a background in communication design and a passion for addressing gendered social issues. Her interest in menopause stems from her commitment to feminism and the societal neglect of women’s experiences. Her work has often focused on underrepresented topics, from exploring gendered violence in digital spaces during her master’s studies to her current PhD research, which reimagines digital archives through an intersectional feminist lens.
Joining this project is a natural step for Agnese, combining her expertise in visual communication with her passion for addressing systemic inequities. She looking forward to analyzing social network communities and transforming complex insights into accessible narratives.
Katja Laakkonen
Through her research on the long-distance commuting of Finnish nurses, she discovered that Finnish nurses commuting to Norway are almost exclusively peri-menopausal women. Upon obtaining her doctorate in social sciences, Katja will transition to a postdoctoral researcher position in the project “Menopausing: Exploring Diversity, Awareness, and Activism” (2024-2028), where she will continue her research on the multilocal networks of Finnish nurses between Finland and Norway. Her goal is to enhance understanding of how these networks of middle-aged, highly skilled women operate and impact the professional and personal lives of nurses.
Katja Laakkonen is currently conducting doctoral research, which is expected to be completed in the fall of 2025. In her dissertation, “Home in Finland, Work in Norway: The Multilocal Everyday Life of Finnish Commuting Nurses,” Katja examines the changing labor markets for highly educated women. Her research contributes to socio-political discussions on everyday life and work. Before her academic career, Katja had a 20-year career as a registered nurse, working in specialized healthcare (intensive care unit and operating room) in both Finland and Norway.
Contact: katja.laakkonen[at]uef.fi
Pauliina Lukinmaa
Pauliina is a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Humanities, University of Eastern Finland. Her research focuses on the everyday practices and community-building efforts of LGBTIQ+ activists across various contexts, with an emphasis on transnational networks, cultural exchange, and identity formation. Pauliina’s ethnographic PhD research (2018–2022) examined the development of LGBTIQ+ activism in St. Petersburg during the late 2010s under an increasingly authoritarian regime. Her current project (2023–2026) explores the everyday practices, networks, and expressions of transnational solidarity among Russian-speaking LGBTIQ+ activists in the Baltic states, particularly in the wake of Russia’s full-scale war of aggression in Ukraine in 2022.
As of November 2025, Pauliina will begin working part-time and later transition to full-time on the “Menopausing: Exploring Diversity, Awareness, and Activism” project (2024–2028). Drawing on Queer and Cultural Studies, Pauliina investigates menopause activist communities and influencers in Finland who strive to advance gender and age equity both online and offline. Central to the project is the introduction of the term “menopausing,” which conceptualizes menopause as a dynamic and evolving process shaped by the interplay of lives, contexts, and language. Pauliina focuses on LGBTIQ+ individuals and their efforts to challenge traditional notions of biology and gender associated with menopause. She explores the transformative power of LGBTIQ+ menopause communities, examining how they create spaces for gender ambiguity and fluidity, encouraging a rethinking of identity, gender, and aging.
Contact: pauliina.lukinmaa[at]uef.fi
Meeri Ott
Meeri is a researcher for the project, aiming to advance critical theories of self-image and productivity by examining menopause-related cases among queer and crip communities in Finland and Estonia, including digital spaces. “Individualistic and neoliberal cultures often equate self-worth with productivity. So, what happens if you can’t or don’t want to be as productive as possible? I want to explore how menopause resonates with or challenges contemporary societal views of productivity and fulfilling life,” she talks about the inspiration behind the research.
Meeri holds a master’s degree in arts in Humanities (Folkloristics) and has previously worked with different Estonian cultural organisations. Her past work includes research on Estonian urban nightlife during the 2000s, as well as exploring personal narrative experiences of Tartu’s nightlife in the 2020s.
Contact: meeri.ott[at]uef.fi
Sarah Nyarko
Sarah is a dedicated researcher with experience working on forced migrants and more specifically refugees in Ghana. Her passion for women’s health and social justice has driven her to work in the field of research on menopausing women. Her interest in menopause was sparked through an observation of women from diverse backgrounds within her community take health initiatives while navigating the menopausal phase of their lives. Sarah is particularly keen on immersing herself in analyzing both existing literature and contemporary narratives, aiming to illuminate the often-overlooked experiences of menopausal women.
As a member of this transdisciplinary team, Sarah is committed to dismantling gendered ageism and advocating for policies that support women’s health throughout their lives. Her interest in seeing a reduction in stigma associated with menopause remains the drive her for this project, as she seeks to empower women to embrace this natural phase of life with dignity and strength.