Kerosene, Vinegar, and Women’s Health

Dr. Jerilynn Prior, Scientific Director,

Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR) cemcor.ubc.ca

Rob McMahon

photo by Jaime Kowal

People are drawn to medicine for hundreds of reasons. For Dr. Jerilynn Prior, Scientific Director of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR), these included a pinprick and hair-wash.

Prior, who grew up in coastal Alaska, recalls the nurses who visited her remote community. “These heroic women would give us all shots and it was horrible. We were deloused with kerosene and vinegar. But they filled a tremendous need.”

Prior was initially drawn to nursing, but later studied medicine at the University of Oregon. During her training, she focused on community health, including working at a public hospital in Boston. “It made me very conscious of the impact of economics on public health,” she says. “As someone who grew up poor, I know what it’s like not to be able to afford health care.”

Prior moved to Vancouver with a goal of uniting medical research and community care. A practising Quaker, she believes in leadings, in which a person feels led to take action; founding CeMCOR in May 2002 was the result of such an event.

CeMCOR distributes information directly to women about changes through their life cycle, helping women take charge of their health by affirming their accurate self-knowledge. It’s obviously filling a need: the Centre’s website gets 13,000 hits a day and Prior’s book, Estrogen’s Storm Season, won a 2006 Independent Book Publisher Award. CeMCOR is currently seeking female volunteers for two important research studies. Info: cemcor.ubc.ca.