Vulvar disorders of menopause span a wide differential — from atrophic changes to lichen sclerosus and other dermatologic conditions — and are frequently misdiagnosed or dismissed as routine atrophy. Dr. Carrie Sopata, who directs UVA's multidisciplinary vulvar dermatology clinic, reviews the diagnostic approach to vulvar complaints in menopausal patients, including exam findings, when biopsy is indicated, and current treatment options.

Carrie Sopata, MD, MPH, grew up in a small town in Maine. She received her undergraduate degree at Duke University, where she studied history and chemistry. After graduation, she joined Teach for America and taught second grade in an under-resourced area of Texas for two years. She later received her Master's Degree in Public Health from the University of Hawaii where she also worked at the Hawaii Department of Health tracking Dengue fever cases and organizing Smallpox vaccination clinics.  She attended medical school at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.  She completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.  She has been a member of the faculty in at the University of Virginia since 2011, though she left in 2017 to work in rural New Zealand for 12 months.  Her clinical expertise is in HPV related diseases, vulvar disorders and gender affirming care including the menopause transition.  She started several multidisciplinary clinics at UVA including one focused on vulvar dermatology and another in gender affirming surgery.  She is currently the Vice Chair of Gynecology and serves as the medical director of all benign gynecology clinics at UVA.  Additionally she is the current chair of the Virginia ACOG section.