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Press and Media

ISHARE welcomes media inquiries. We are available for interviews, commentary, and background briefings on women's health research at high altitude.

The International Sisters High Altitude Research Expedition (ISHARE) is the world's first all-women's high-altitude medical expedition. Launching in autumn 2027, the expedition will climb to 7,246 meters (23,773 ft) on Putha Hiunchuli in Nepal, collecting comparative physiological data from Sherpa women fully adapted to high altitude and women from around the world not adapted to high altitude. Women represent approximately 40% of people engaging in mountain activities worldwide, yet fewer than 7% of high-altitude studies focus on women. Altitude illness can begin as low as 2,500m (about 8,000ft), lower than the elevation of popular travel destinations like La Paz, Lhasa, and Breckenridge. ISHARE's findings will benefit not only elite mountaineers but also the millions of women who travel, live, or work in high-altitude places worldwide. ISHARE is led by an international team of scientists, physicians, and mountaineers and supported by a board of 14 globally distinguished advisors drawn from the highest levels of mountain medicine, physiology, and high-altitude exploration.

Team of climbers roped together ascending a snowy ridge in high-altitude gear

Key Facts

  • First all-women's high-altitude medical expedition

  • Destination: Putha Hiunchuli, Nepal (7,246m)

  • Expedition date: September – October 2027

  • Research focus: Women's physiological response to high altitude

  • Team: International scientists, mountaineers, Nepalese and Sherpa women

  • Board: 14 highly acclaimed advisors, including a Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 

  • Fiscal sponsor: Players Philanthropy Fund 501(c)(3)

  • Funding goal: $500,000

Story Ideas

  • The gender gap in high-altitude medicine. What we don't know and why it matters

  • Not just elite athletes: any traveler to a mountain town above 8,000ft faces the same physiological unknowns

  • Sherpa women: fully adapted to altitude and largely absent from the research

  • The scientists behind ISHARE. What drives an international team to attempt a 7,000m peak

  • The three internationally recognized female climbing guides and their exceptional stories

  • Women in mountaineering: participation is rising, research hasn't kept up

  • How low oxygen levels trigger illness at high altitude and why we still don't have all the answers for women

Snow-covered mountain summit against a clear sky

We welcome the opportunity to share our story.
Email Dr. Martha Tissot van Patot at contact@ISHAREmountains.org
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Selected Publications by our organizers

ISHARE's organizers are active researchers in high-altitude and wilderness medicine, with a particular focus on women's health at altitude. Below are examples of their peer-reviewed publications. Download a full list of our relevant publications as a PDF.

Mateikaitė-Pipirienė, K., Jean, D., Paal, P., Horakova, L., Kriemler, S., Rosier, A.J., Andjelkovic, M., Beidleman, B.A., Derstine, M., Pichler Hefti, J., Hillebrandt, D. and Keyes, L.E. (2024) ‘Menopause and high altitude: a scoping review—UIAA Medical Commission recommendations’, High Altitude Medicine & Biology, 25(1), pp. 1-8. doi: 10.1089/ham.2023.0039.

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Tissot van Patot, M.C., Leadbetter, G. III, Keyes, L.E., Maakestad, K.M., Olson, S. and Hackett, P.H. (2008) ‘Prophylactic low-dose acetazolamide reduces the incidence and severity of acute mountain sickness’, High Altitude Medicine & Biology, 9(4), pp. 289-293. doi: 10.1089/ham.2008.1029.

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Brodmann Maeder, M., Brugger, H., Pun, M., Strapazzon, G., Dal Cappello, T., Maggiorini, M., Hackett, P., Bärtsch, P., Swenson, E.R. and Zafren, K. (2018) ‘The STAR data reporting guidelines for clinical high altitude research’, High Altitude Medicine & Biology, 19(1), pp. 7-14. doi: 10.1089/ham.2017.0160.

See the research →

Eighteen invited investigators, seventeen projects, the full scientific scope of the expedition.

Meet our advisors →

An international board of climbers, physicians, and scientists advises the expedition, including legendary Swiss mountain guide Nicole Niquille.

See the ways to give →

$500 supports a junior Nepali scientist's salary for the expedition.

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