Sarah N.’s Post

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the inaugural Decoding The Future of Women event organised by FemTech Lab at London's Wellcome Collection. Thanks to the organisers for creating such a compelling agenda with an excellent lineup of inspiring speakers. You could feel the excitement for the possibilities #femtech is opening up for women - as well as the progress already made - and the relief that important women's health topics are finally being discussed and addressed. There's so much to unpack but here are some of my key takeaways (apologies to speakers if I didn't get your wording quite right, but the message is the same!): 🧠 Elisabeth Krenkler's futuristic approach to the care of premature babies - imagine if mothers could remain attached to newborns who arrive early through an external, artificial womb. 🧠 Joyce Harper's 'disruptive' and much-needed reminders that femtech must empower women, not exploit them. Evidence and education are critical. She reminded us, for instance, that period trackers often do not accurately predict ovulation. 🧠 The key to winning the future female consumer, according to Amy Beckley PhD: Personalised, ultra fast and proactive care, ease of use, prevention vs treatment, and surprising & delighting them with considerate and fun touches. 🧠 One attendee provided live user feedback of ŌURA to product manager Kristina Masalin - by tracking her temperature, she is now able to predict when her period will start! This user was especially interested in how she could use the data from this wearable to prepare for perimenopause. 🧠 Google Health's Susan Thomas mentioned the need for interoperability to bring together all the data from the growing range of wearables and apps available to us. 🧠 The panel discussion on menopause was fascinating. Multiple speakers during the day stressed that we must stop talking about it as if it's a disease - it's simply a stage of life. Dr Nicky Keay said she uses the term 'graduating to menopause' which I loved! 🧠 Stasa Stankovic talked about how we need to learn more about the genetic drivers of #menopause and why it actually happens. She also shared insights on technology that would allow us to extend the 'shelf life' of our eggs - a game changer for those who might be genetically predisposed to early menopause. 🧠 Dr Michelle Griffin: "Women are the Chief Medical Officers for themselves and their families". I know there is a long way to go but I'm delighted to be a witness to the transformation of women's healthcare.✨ Here's my obligatory CTA 😊 - if you are involved in #femtech or have a shared interest, I would love to connect and explore a potential collaboration. We're very good at raising awareness and shouting about important issues in the right places: https://lnkd.in/egntnfuJ #FemTech #WomenInHealthcare #Innovation #HealthTech #FemaleHealth #decodingthefutureofwomen #d3cod1ng2023