International Women’s Day 2024: How You Can Advance Women’s Health
Actionable Tips Straight From Startup Founders & Other Experts
Kristine Ball: CEO of Antiva Biosciences & Dr. Tom Cox: Clinician, clinical researcher and medical teacher in HPV and cervical cancer prevention
Their Advice: Get screened and get vaccinated. Parents should also look out for the long-term interests and health of their children or other minors in their care and have them vaccinated, including against HPV (which can lead to cervical cancer). Vaccinations can also lead to herd immunity: a positive healthcare outcome for all.
Maya Hardigan: CEO of Meet Mae, which focuses on Black maternal health
Her Advice: Write to your representatives and to your insurance providers. Let them know what services you want to be covered.
Melanie Igwe: Co-Founder/COO of ViuHealth, which focuses on autoimmune disease
Her Advice: If you can, help develop and support upstream information, which may be affecting the downstream management of care. For one example, an individual’s sex or race can affect their symptoms and treatment options in conditions including, but not limited to, autoimmune diseases. Providing feedback can help others of the same sex or race (or both) not only improve their health experience but also help personalize their own care.
Sasha Kelemen: Head of Women and Family Healthcare Services and Technology, Leerink Partners
Her Advice: Advocate. If you want a medical test performed or want something offered, advocate for yourself, tell your doctor what you want, and give them feedback. And don’t forget to amplify women’s health companies and the work that they’re doing.
Eileen Maus: CEO of Axena Health, which focuses first on women’s pelvic health
Her Advice: Advocate for yourself. After all, some women don’t even know that their health issue — like urinary incontinence — is common and treatable.
Similarly, “talk to your girlfriends” about healthcare. They might have experienced similar issues and may have recommendations for treatments. That way, no individual women feels isolated, alone, or — when it comes to finding a treatment — adrift. As Eileen says, “So many women don’t know they have options, and we’re best when we work together.”
Dr. Samantha Shapiro: Rheumatologist and Internist
Her Advice: First, if you smoke cigarettes, stop smoking.
Second, advocate for yourself and start to implement health changes. In her area of expertise — autoimmune diseases — patients shouldn’t just take medication or show up to appointments; they also need to commit to healthy lifestyle changes across the board.
Joanna Strober: CEO/Founder of Midi Health, which focuses on women’s midlife health
Her Advice: Educate yourself and educate others.
Healthcare professionals have not always considered female-specific conditions — like perimenopause, one of Midi’s focus areas — that can affect an individual’s overall health. Instead, these professionals use men’s health as a guideline. For one example, a woman might get a sleep study based on her perimenopause symptoms — because a man with similar symptoms (from a condition other than perimenopause) would receive a sleep study. But that women might not receive what she really needs — like estrogen pills— to relieve her symptoms because estrogen is often not given to men and is, thus, often not considered by doctors.
Educating women around specific conditions — like perimenopause — and the symptoms of those conditions can help ensure women receive the right care.
Dr. Neil Ray: CEO and Founder of Raydiant Oximetry, which aims to monitor fetal distress and keep mothers and babies safe during labor and delivery
His Advice: Know your hospital. For maternal health specifically, your hospital and your healthcare providers is one of the biggest risk factors for having a medically unnecessary C-section. Likewise, know your provider and what they cover, including but not limited to maternal health and childbirth (and, like Maya Hardigan of Mae said, be sure to let your provider know what services you do want covered!)
We’ll continue to update this page as we receive more advice from women’s health entrepreneurs, experts, investors, and supporters. Be sure to check back in — and feel free to share your own advice in the comments below.
At Avestria Ventures, we look for early-stage women’s health and female-led life science companies with products or technologies that improve healthcare quality and/or access, lower costs, induce clinical or behavioral change, are evidence based, have scalable commercialization plans, and have a sustainable competitive advantage. Know one? Contact us via our website, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
