Check out our piece in Nature Reviews Bioengineering titled:
“A Holistic Approach to Advancing Women’s Health.”
This isn’t just a call for more research into “female-specific” conditions, it’s an argument that women’s health is foundational to advancing biomedicine as a whole.
Too often, women’s health is sidelined as niche, underfunded, and under-researched. We propose a different lens: one that treats women’s health as a driver of innovation that can unlock better care and new scientific breakthroughs across the board.
Key themes from the piece:
-
A broader definition of women’s health
Women’s health must move beyond reproduction to include systemic conditions like cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, chronic pain, autoimmune disorders, and mental health; areas where biological sex and gender both play crucial roles. These are also areas that are severely under‑researched and under‑diagnosed -
Inclusive tools, not just inclusive trials
Equity can’t be achieved by retrofitting biased tools. We need models (like sex-specific organoids and engineered tissues) and data systems that reflect biological and lived diversity from the start, not as an afterthought. We advocate for leveraging femtech, AI, wearable biosensors (e.g. ŌURA ring for menstrual and perimenopausal tracking), and data science, while maintaining transparency and equity in algorithm design -
Patient experience as a driver of insight
Real-world symptom tracking, community-based evidence, and feedback loops from patients can surface blind spots in traditional research and and are essential to making research and care actually work for women. -
Bias in, bias out
Technologies like AI and wearables offer potential, but without addressing skewed inputs and exclusionary design, they risk entrenching bias further. Transparency, accountability, and real representation are non-negotiable. -
From patchwork to systems change
Fragmented efforts won’t solve systemic neglect. We call for integrated strategies across funding bodies, institutions, and industry—including women in leadership, longer funding timelines, and cross-sector coalitions that prioritize longitudinal impact.
-
Holistic Framework for Innovation:
Success requires integrating patient input, clinical expertise, and research into innovation cycles. Real‑world symptom tracking, inclusive datasets, and better preclinical models (such as organoids and tissue‑engineered systems) are essential
You can read the full commentary here:
A Holistic Approach to Advancing Women’s Health – Nature Reviews Bioengineering
More soon on how we’re building on this vision, especially when it comes to turning theory into tools, like with ori.care.