Decoding the Future of Women

by Steph Jones

Steph recently went to the Decoding the Future of Women Conference...read on for her thoughts!

Wow! Where to even start what an incredible event this was.

Firstly, thank you to One Health Tech for sending me on this fantastic 1.5 day event which really was a celebration of all things women & health related. The event had so many different incredible pieces of innovation and I met and observed so many sensational women. There are sure to be things I missed but this is my personal round up.

Co-founders Karina Vazirova and Katia Lang opened the event with the following remarks:

‘We want to inspire. We want to restore balance. Give to those who lack. Create balance and harmony and finally be the change you want to see.’

Many of these comments just make my heart sing. In this lightning fast and high cadence, output fuelled world, I often feel comments like ‘give to those who lack’ are forgotten, but not here – Balance is at the forefront of FemTech.

The day was split into 2 work streams of which I yoyo-d between.

First I chose a panel titled ‘AI eats Healthcare’.

On the panel were:

• Elisa Sai (Vice President at Capgemini)

• Mark Davies (Chief Health Officer, IBM)

• Stephanie Kuku (Chief Knowledge Officer, Conceivable Life Sciences)

• Anna Paola Carrieri (Research Manager, AI for Healthcare and Life Sciences, IBM Research)

• Katherine Church (Chief Digital Officer, KC Digital) - moderator

This panel had some fantastic discussions around the use of AI in healthcare.

For me, the most exciting bit of science I heard was from Anna Paola Carrieri regarding predicting menopause using the skin microbiome and urine microbiome data. For anyone that knows me knows I am obsessed with everything and anything menopause because of the devastating impact the menopause had on my own mum. A relationship between microbiome and menopause was something vaguely mentioned during the Zoe study I did last year but this is still relatively new to me. I need to investigate this microbiome-menopause relationship further.

Mark Davis from IBM stated that we need to ‘shift the mindset from universal healthcare meaning that we do the same thing for everyone’. Instead, a 3 prong approach to AI is needed in healthcare.

1. Cohort personalisation - understand the pain points of different groups.

2. Preferences - we need to listen to patient preferences.

3. Omics / precision medicine.

Mark stated that there is lots of low hanging fruit in terms of using AI such as process mining. He said we should ban ‘proof of concept’ and instil ‘proof of value’ instead. It isn't about if it can be done but how much value it brings. I couldn’t agree more. As a pharmacist turned coder turned software/data engineer, I often think about all the basic workflows in the NHS that need improving. Yet mostly what gets people excited are complex genomics. It definitely feels like we have a system where we use AI to sift through genomic data yet we don’t have an automated booking system – it seems like many of the basics have been missed.. So I very much enjoyed what Mark was saying.

The next panel I chose was ‘Future of FemTech Gen Z and Gen Alpha.’

On the panel were:

• Michelle Griffin MFG Health Con

• Chantal Cox - Octopus Health

• Elena Rueda - Dama Health

• Leila Thabet - Mavern Clinic

• Tania Boler - Elvie

The panel talked about how Gen Z and Gen Alpha demand more and have higher expectations. They seem to be a generation much more willing to invest in their health and they will pay. The US company ‘Kind Body’ was discussed, and this idea that healthcare can be more empathetic by listening to women rather than telling women what they are feeling.

I have heard Chantal Cox before on a podcast and wow this woman is sensational! Doctor turned investor and just speaks so much sense. Chantal highlighted that many of the female issues early in life are bleeding related or skin problems and she advocated for women to see a gynecologist first for these. This is a completely different way of approaching healthcare and something I’d not heard before. Many of the women I know who suffer are complaining from skin and menstrual cycle issues. When I sat and thought about this new approach it made a lot of sense. Having hormones as part of the initial conversations seems very sensible.

The panel also talked about contraception optimisation/personalisation with Elena Rueda, co-founder of Dama Health. I first heard about Dama Health on Davina’s Pill Revolution last

year and I find this company sensational. From my background as a pharmacist, with a MSc in Genomic Medicine, I was excited to see Elena on stage and I briefly chatted to her afterwards. Dama Health is at the forefront of personalized medicine. They have done a study with 1066 participants and sequenced 600 full genomes to identify the relationship between a woman’s genetics and how her body responds to taking the pill. This can highlight why some women are more affected by side effects than others. This is personalized medicine in action!

I loved this panel! It really made me feel positive about the future of women’s health. Tonnes more empathy, a focus on listening to women’s personal stories and high quality care. Using state of the art genetics and personalisation. Fantastic news for all our mums, sisters, daughter, cousins, aunts!

The next panel I chose was Mother Earth. The future of food, water, biodiversity, and what that means for women’s health.

On the panel were:

• Dougal Alexander Fleming (Innovation Advisor, Clean Growth UK)

• Paqui Lizana (Global Head of Technology Strategy, IKEA)

• Magnolia Pretell (Principal Consultant, Genes and Wellness)

• Farah Ereiqat (Investor, Pact VC)

• Anna Butterworth (Founder, Ultra Violet Agency) - moderator

This panel blew my mind in terms of innovation. It was moderated by Anna Butterworth - who I remember last year brought her new baby to this conference. She is a trend forecaster and she is incredible. The panel had a focus on sustainability and discussed the circular economy bringing up Ellen MacArthur, the fastest solo sailor to sail around the world in 2005 carrying everything she needed with her. Growing up my mum was obsessed with Ellen MacArthur!

There was also some discussion about 3D printing: ‘imagine we had no items in our kitchen and we 3D printed what we needed for each meal such as plates, but what if we made them out of edible materials?’

Anyone who knows me knows that I bought a 3D printer last year and that I love it! I just don’t love the plastic it generates so a 3D printer that prints edible products would be incredible. Next up in the discussion was the building trade focusing on mycelium panelling for walls: The root structure of fungi has emerged as a sustainable construction material for bricks and cladding.

Overall, this panel talked about growth, but growth that doesn’t destroy the planet – Growth that works in harmony with the planet. This thought was aligned to women’s cycles and how women’s bodies are always in flux moving through cycles, much like planet earth and seasons. Being constantly ‘on’ or society’s constant hypergrowth isn’t sustainable therefore having a more on off approach to growth is more harmonious with planet earth.

The afternoons Keynote was Engineering Healthy Aging in Women Jennifer Garrison (Professor, Buck Institute for Research on Aging)

I’m embarrassed to say this is the first time I came across Jennifer Garrison. I am still learning about women’s health. This woman is a total icon in the space of ovaries and female biology and aging. Jennifer spoke about reframing the narrative around healthy aging in females. She stated ‘The consequences of ovarian aging are profound, yet we don’t understand the most basic things about it. What sets it in motion? Why does it vary so much between individuals? Why does it happens so early?’

Jennifer explained how women’s health is woefully underfunded. The National Institute of Health (US) spending in 2022 was $45.2 billion. From that, all Women’s Health got $4.6B and female reproductive aging $116M. You do the maths.

The final talk of the day - and best talk was called Medicine 3.0.

Panel:

• Marni Allen (Chief Marketing Officer, Bioniq)

• Lucy Diamond (Clinical Director for Innovation, Oviva) Julija Juric (R&D Business Manager, GlycanAge)

• Kate Evans (Senior Director, Marketing & Digital, Global Women’s Health Division, Perrigo) Ben Sharpe (Head of Positive Healthcare, Boots)

• Jean Liao (Managing Director, Accenture)

The panel started off by discussing ‘What does Medicine 3.0 mean?’ with a short view back to the past. From leeches being Medicine 1.0 to Francis Bacon in the 17th century and the introduction of scientific methods and RCT's being Medicine 2.0. These two have in common the treatment after diagnosis approach. Whereas Medicine 3.0 advocates for a prevention first approach –. It’s a fascinating way of thinking of health and disease.

The panel also discussed what does Medicine 3.0 mean for women’s health? Lucy stated it means improving access to care and prevention of chronic disease.

Julija Junic a glycobiologist by background she discussed the work happening at her company; GlycanAge. GlycanAge is a biological age test paired with expert advice to help guide your wellness. It determines your biological age by measuring chronic inflammation in your system, which is directly related to your lifestyle. I found this totally fascinating; this is not just preventative medicine but data that can help extend your lifespan and, most importantly, your healthspan.

The panel talks of 5 principles of chronic disease:

1. Personalisation

2. Prevention - e.g. national diabetes programme

3. Empowerment

4. Digitally enabled

5. Data driven

Marni Allen discussed personalised supplements from her company Bioniq - something I’d never heard of so was excited to hear. She stated that the recommended daily allowance is an average amount for an average person but at Bioniq they are measuring and tailoring at the patient level.

During the breaks I met lots of teams but these companies in particular stood out to me:

1. BoobyBiome. I had the pleasure of meeting BoobyBiome founder Dr. Sioned Jones. BoobyBiome harnesses breast milk microbiome science to develop products to improve infant health. Sioned was explaining to me how she started the company. As a mum who pumped my milk I was astounded to hear that most of the good bacteria deteriorated once exposed to oxygen. I loved hearing the science behind this and the science Sioned and her team are working on.

2. During the break I met Sara Doe CEO of iViewHealth

Sara and the team have a bundle of devices and products aimed at helping women if they require help in perimenopause and menopause. The most exciting of which was being discussed was a urine dipstick to test hormone levels on a daily basis. Sara discussed how she could measure her estrogen in the morning, armed with that information she can plan her day. E.g. understand her mental health and emotions but also apply her estrogen gel to her skin based on her reading from her device. Tailoring your dose based on biomarkers feels wildly exciting and futuristic. As mentioned before, my mum had a horrendous menopause meaning that she was often bedridden and housebound with months of chronic fatigue and clinical depression – modern medicine failed her. When I saw the work that Sara and her team were doing I cried, a wave of emotion came over me. I thought: “Someone is starting to solve this devastating crisis that my mum went through for years!”.I do appreciate that for a lot of women, menopause is not a crisis and not an issue. But for my mum it was a debilitating 12 years with a poor quality of life.

A device like this would have been incredible for her to detect changing levels of hormones and would have helped her not to think that she was going mad or ‘losing the plot’ for absolutely no reason. This information is definitely the beginning of new innovative ways to understand menopause. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyMC2ER312M

3. Poka took to the stage in this incredible pitch Poka is a reproductive health app for African women, it is female led and culturally relevant. I caught up with their CTO Rosalyn Anuseh. And wow she is amazing! Prior to tech she had a successful career in HR but transitioned into tech doing a bootcamp in 2019 and working for 5 years as a software engineer. She now builds the Poka app which is incredible.

Others

There were tons of talks that I missed - so this isn’t a totally unbiased roundup but if you are interested please visit the event website and click on the links to find out about the blurb of the talks and the information on the panelists. https://www.d3cod1ng.com/agenda-2024

Talks I missed:

• Psychedelics

• Womb Transplantation Breakthrough, artificial womb.

• Ovarian Longevity

• Sexual Wellness

• Women’s Wearables

• Male Fertility

Final remark

It was an incredible day! I saw and met more female coders but still nowhere near enough! All I can say is watch this space. We need more female software engineers and data engineers building these tools, specifically these products that will help our mums, aunts, sisters and daughters!