School of Medicine


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  • Karen E. Adams MD, FACOG, DipABLM, MSCP

    Karen E. Adams MD, FACOG, DipABLM, MSCP

    Clinical Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology - General

    BioDr. Adams is doubly board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB-GYN) and Lifestyle Medicine, and is a Menopause Society-certified menopause specialist and expert in sex medicine at the Stanford Health Care Gynecology Clinic. She is a clinical professor of medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University School of Medicine and a faculty affiliate of the Stanford Center on Longevity.

    As an OB-GYN for over three decades, Dr. Adams specializes in managing the symptoms of menopause, diagnosing and treating female sexual dysfunction, and utilizing lifestyle medicine to decrease the risk of chronic conditions associated with aging. In addition to her clinical practice, she serves as a mentor for the next generation of health care practitioners, working closely with medical students, residents, fellows, and primary care providers to elevate the care of women in California and beyond.

    Dr. Adams has served as a principal investigator or co-investigator on clinical trials evaluating the safety of medications for long-term management of menopause symptoms, as well as their impact on patients undergoing breast cancer treatment. Her research has shown that most menopausal symptoms go untreated due to patient's inability to find a prescribing provider, which drives her passion for educating providers to deliver this care. She is also mentoring researchers in the Stanford Center for Lifestyle Medicine on the delivery of "strength snacks" to menopausal women to improve accessibility of exercise for this population.

    Prior to her arrival at Stanford Health Care, Dr. Adams held the title of professor emeritus and was director of the Menopause and Sexual Medicine Program at the Center for Women’s Health at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU). She also served as Vice Chair for Education and Residency Program Director at OHSU for 13 years.

    Dr. Adams has served as a peer reviewer for multiple prestigious journals, including the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Annals of Internal Medicine, and the American Journal of Bioethics. She has also presented research to her peers nationally and internationally, including at the annual meetings of the American Medical Women’s Association, the Council on Residency Education in OBGYN, and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Her TEDx talk entitled “Sleep, Sex, and Menopausal Zest” has received over 150,000 views and she is an in-demand speaker on the topics of menopause and sex medicine to both medical and lay audiences.

    Dr. Adams is a member of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Menopause Society, and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, where she serves on the Education Committee. She is a recognized leader in medical education, having served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics and on the national Review Committee for Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.