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Why Didn't I Know This?

WHRY undergraduate student blog
Nana Kyei, Class of ‘28

In 2017, Dhikshitha Balaji, Class of ’18, began her fellowship with Women’s Health Research at Yale. Not long into her fellowship, Balaji kept asking herself the same question over and over again: “Why didn’t I know this?” She was shocked when she learned of the historical lack of sex-and-gender-specific research and was inspired to get the word out by starting a student-led blog.

The blog — fittingly titled “Why Didn’t I Know This?” — focuses on how WHRY and others are narrowing that gap. Suyeon Hong, Class of ’20, took over the blog for the 2018-19 school year, followed by Anjali Walia, Class of ’21, Ke'ala Akau, Class of ’22, Gillian Clouser, Class of ’23, and Margaret Hankins, Class of ’24. Kayla Yup, Class of ’25, wrote for the blog from Fall 2022 through Spring 2024. For the 2024-25 academic year, Kira Berman, Class of ’25, contributed blogs exploring autoimmune disorders, cardiovascular disease, menopause, and more. In Fall 2025, Nana Kyei, Class of ’28, takes the reins.

Nana (pictured) is a second year majoring in History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health. Passionate about women’s health and equity, Nana is committed to writing about women’s health topics that are often overlooked and under-researched.

View the latest blog posts below or check out our archive of former posts.

Latest Blog Posts

May 27, 2026

OPINION: When A Migraine Sends You to the Emergency Room

Imagine sitting in English class, reading a passage aloud, when you start to see colorful, squiggly lines in the corners of your vision. Within minutes, dark spots begin to appear, obscuring the next word in the sentence. You blink hard and rub your eyes, but the visual disturbances remain. When you return to your dorm room, numbness spreads across the left side of your face and down your left arm. A dull ache forms on the right side of your head. An hour later, you cannot move without feeling searing pain. Migraine is not “just a headache.” It is a debilitating condition that robs people of their quality of life. Women experience migraine attacks at a rate more than 3 times higher than men, and over 40% of women have experienced a migraine at some point in their lifetime. Why didn’t I know that this disabling disease is so prevalent in women?

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