NYSSA: The Unmentionables

Nyssa's Mia Clarke speaks to Alessandra Henderson, CEO and co-founder of Elektra Health.
Elektra is a new platform for women navigating hormonal health, starting with perimenopause and menopause. Alessandra and her team are building an integrative healthcare solution that is breaking the menopause taboo by providing women with access to leading specialists, evidence-based programs, and a community of women facing similar questions.

Alessandra is an operator, (occasional) angel investor, and educator who is passionate about taboos, women's health and the intersection of art and science. She was formerly at Human Ventures, MIT NYC Startup Studio and Artsy.

You can read more about Alessandra and Elektra here and here.
Do you have questions you'd like Nyssa to explore with our network of experts? Stories that you'd like to share? Leave us a message at (336) HI-NYSSA or e-mail us at [email protected].

Nyssa's Mia Clarke speaks to Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, MD about anxiety, our culture of relentless productivity, identity shifts in motherhood, the stigma that still surrounds prescription medication, racism within the medical community and much more.
Pooja is a board-certified psychiatrist and writer specializing in women's mental health and perinatal psychiatry and a frequent contributor to The New York Times Parenting section. She is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the George Washington University School of Medicine, where she is a clinical supervisor in the Five Trimesters perinatal psychiatry clinic. She maintains a private practice in Washington DC, where she is active in maternal mental health advocacy work and community building, and applies an integrative approach to taking care of women suffering from maternal mental health conditions. Dr. Lakshmin is most passionate about empowering women and sees her clinical work as a perinatal psychiatrist as an extension of this mission. She is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, and her advice has been featured in Glamour, Marie Claire, Self, Harper’s Bazaar , Bustle and various other media outlets. She is working on a book about the tyranny of self-care.
You can read more about Pooja here and here.
Do you have questions you'd like Nyssa to explore with our network of experts? Stories that you'd like to share? Leave us a message at (336) HI-NYSSA or e-mail us at [email protected].

Welcome to Season 2 of The Unmentionables! Nyssa's Mia Clarke speaks to Penda N'Diaye, founder of Pro Hoe, a platform (and incredible podcast!) she created to eradicate stigmas surrounding sexual freedom and identity in Black communities. Penda is hyper-focused on using sex and taboo as a means of political change and resistance and is leading the conversation on how societal, racial, and religious constructs stifle our sexual liberties. She has curated and led several community events sponsored by Planned Parenthood, sex therapists, and social workers to create a safe place to discuss sexual experiences and trauma.
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For the final episode of the season, Nyssa's Mia Clarke speaks to Miyhosi Benton, senior associate with New York City's Women & Justice Project, a non-profit organization that advances the leadership and narrative power of women directly impacted by incarceration to transform the criminal justice system. Miyhosi experienced pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum during her period of incarceration and was illegally shackled despite a 2009 law designed to protect women from this barbaric practice. Miyhosi was a leader in the successful campaign to pass the 2015 Anti-Shackling law banning the shackling of incarcerated pregnant women in New York State, the most progressive law of its kind in the nation.
You can read more about Miyhosi and the Women & Justice Project here and here.
Do you have questions you'd like Nyssa to explore with our network of experts? Fourth Trimester stories that you'd like to share? Leave us a message at (336) HI-NYSSA or e-mail us at [email protected].

Nyssa's Mia Clarke speaks to Dr. Lopa Pandya, a reconstructive surgeon in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at UI Health. We get deep into the urinary and gynaecological issues that women and vulva owners may need to attend to in their late 30s to late 40s. We talk about the different types of incontinence, the impact of birth on the bladder and pelvic floor, UTIs and much more.
Dr. Pandya specializes in treating various pelvic floor disorders, urinary issues, and pelvic organ prolapse. Her clinical interests include minimally invasive surgery, surgical outcomes, and finding ways to improve patients' quality of life. She believes in share decision making, and she focuses on helping patients choose the treatment option that is best for them; oftentimes, patients are able to achieve major improvements in their quality of life with relatively simple treatments.