FemTech Focus

In this episode, Dr Brittany Barreto talks to Dr. Neel Shah, Chief Medical Officer at Maven Clinic. They discuss how Maven Clinic is reducing employer healthcare costs, the challenges in serving women in over 175 countries, and what the future is for this FemTech Unicorn. Remember to like, rate and subscribe and enjoy the episode!

It’s our 200th episode! And it’s a really great one. In this episode, Dr Brittany Barreto talks to Heidi Morin, Founder and CEO of Parity Healthcare Analytics. They talk all about the importance of hospital staffing to outcomes for women’s health. From the current system, to causes of burnout in nurses, to US maternal healthcare deserts - this is a truly fascinating episode. Remember to like, rate...

In this episode, Dr Brittany Barreto talks to Surbhi Sarna, Author of Without A Doubt and Partner at Y Combinator. They discuss Surbhi’s company, which exited in 2018 for $275 million, advice for networking and pitching investors, plus how to recognise burnout and what to do about it. Enjoy the episode! Remember to like, rate and subscribe to the FemTech Focus podcast!

In this episode, Dr Brittany Barreto talks to Dr. Sarita Maturu, Clinical Assistant Professor of Neurology at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and Board Member at My Epilepsy Story, a non-profit for women with epilepsy. They talk all about exactly what a seizure is, when women may be more susceptible to seizures, and what the female-specific impacts of an epilepsy diagnosis are. Enjoy the episode!...

Dr Brittany Barreto talks to Maurissa Bell, VP of Private Equity and Clairvest Group Inc. They take it back to basics and discuss what Private Equity actually is, how it works and how it can help a company. Maurissa also gives us the 411 on the relationship between Private Equity and FemTech, why Clairvest sees opportunity in the sector, and what they see as the future of women’s health and wellne...

Dr. Rasha Babikir is head of business development at Cedar Health Research, a Clinical Trials site in Dallas, Texas. In this episode, Dr. Rasha teaches us all about the different entities involved in a clinical trial, how much one costs, why women were excluded from clinical trials in 1977 and reintroduced in 1993, and what we can do to ensure equality in clinical trials moving forwards.

Dr. Kate Rhodes and Dr. Melissa Herbst-Kralovetz are researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences, looking at how the vaginal microbiome relates to gonorrhea and bacterial vaginosis. In this episode, Dr. Kate and Dr. Melissa talk to Brittany all about STI rates in the US, the impacts for women, the link between the vaginal microbiome and cancer, plus what it’s like to be a researcher o...

Liz Powell founded G2G Consulting in 2007 to help entrepreneurs and nonprofits access government funding, navigate policy, regulation, administration and congress. In this episode, Liz talks to Brittany all about the relationship between policy and women’s health, the impact of Roe V Wade, and how listeners can get involved in women’s health policy.

Dictionary.com announced the word of the year for 2022 is, "woman". That could not be more accurate as we have seen major growth in the women's health innovation industry. In this annual end of year review with our host, Dr. Brittany Barreto, we cover the major trends, wins, and challenges facing this budding industry. We will discuss societal shifts affecting our industry, review last year's pred...

A live interview from Tokyo, Japan, Saki Oshima is the Head of Femtech Partnerships at Scrum Ventures and the Founding member of Femtech Community Japan. Saki has been involved in collaborative projects between startups and large Japanese corporations her entire career. Saki's been leading femtech initiatives at Scrum connecting with femtech startups and large Japanese corporations. To raise more...

Dr. Nicole Danos is an integrative biologist by training, currently working as an assistant professor at a primarily undergraduate institution, the University of San Diego. When she became pregnant she realized that there was a scarcity of data on the basic biology of the female body during pregnancy and lactation. Her current research program engages undergraduate students, and addresses this gap...

Milena Bacalja Perianes is a femtech expert and gender lens investing specialist. She is committed to driving more innovation and investment into women's health solutions that can close the gender gap. She is the co-founder of Madami and the Menstrual Health Hub which was just recently acquired. She is also the founder of the just freshly launched femtech-focused angel investing network called Her...

Dr Mary O’Neal is an expert in Women’s Neurology, serving as the Director of the Women’s Neurology Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She’s written multiple papers on this subject and edited several books including the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Continuum edition of “Neurological Illness in Pregnancy”, “Women’s Neurology- what do I do now?”, and “Neurology and Psychiatry of Women: A...

Tara Elmore is the Co-Founder of Complex Creatures, a breast wellness brand that makes topical and ingestible products to support breasts. Women mostly pay attention to their breasts when there's a problem. Complex Creatures want to make breast care a regular practice, in the same way women take care of other body parts. In this interview, we discuss Tara’s experience being diagnosed and treated f...

Laura Youngson is the CEO and Co-founder of Ida Sports. Laura is a STEM advocate, TED speaker, and four-time Guinness World Record Holder. After completing a degree in physics, she worked at the 2012 Olympics and was immediately drawn to the power sport had in bringing people together. She founded the nonprofit Equal Playing Field which challenges inequalities in sports. During one of her Guinea W...

Cindy Eckert is a highly regarded entrepreneur, a strong advocate for female entrepreneurship, a pharmaceutical leader and one of the few women to have ever sold a company for a billion dollars. Over a distinguished 24-year career in healthcare, she started and sold two businesses for more than $1.5 billion. Having co-founded and sold Slate Pharmaceuticals, which redefined long lasting testosteron...

Lu Zhang is the Founder and Managing Partner of Fusion Fund. Lu is a renowned Silicon Valley based investor, a serial entrepreneur, and a Stanford Engineering alumna. Lu was recently selected as one of the Best 25 Female Early-stage Investors by Business Insider. The Fusion Fund just closed its third fund at $125M, to invest in founders innovating in deep tech and healthcare with a focus on seed a...

Jillian Fink is the CEO and founder of Occiguide which is a medical device that treats headaches. Headaches are a leading cause of pain and disability, and routinely affect the well-being and work productivity of more than 45 million Americans each year. Women are twice as likely to have headaches than men and even worse, 85% of migraine patients are women. Many people suspect its hormonal fluctua...

Jenny Wu is the Co-President & Chief Product Officer at Understood.org. Understood.org is a resource for more than 70 million people with learning and thinking differences like ADHD and dyslexia. They help these neurodivergent individuals understand and anticipate life’s challenges, and build their confidence through personalized and expert-driven experiences, community and content. Understood.org...

Derek Sham, the founder and CEO of Cosm Medical, is an engineer who has launched over 8 medical devices in urology, gynecology, gastroenterology, and cardiology. His last urology diagnostic company was PE-back and exited in 2016. Inspired by the complications his grandmother faced, Derek set out to create a better solution for pelvic floor health like preventing pelvic organ prolapse and stopping...

Dr. Silvia Mah is the founder and chairwoman of Stella, a business accelerator for women, and the founder of Stella Angels. Stella Angels is a network of accredited angel investors who are funding women. In this interview, we cover what it’s like for angels investing in femtech, what they’re looking for, what challenges they see companies facing, and what they hope the future of femtech investing...

Beatrice Dixon is the founder and chief innovation officer at The Honey Pot Co. Their products are sold online and at major retailers including Target, Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, Bed Bath and Beyond, Wegmans and more. The Honey Pot Company currently offers feminine washes, wipes, tampons, pads, mommy-to-be products, sexual wellness and soon-to-be additional offerings in both the feminine hygiene and...

Celine Tien is the founder and CEO of Flowly, a mobile app that combines Virtual Reality and biofeedback for pain and anxiety management. Using a mobile app and VR headset, Flowly uses biometric data such as Heart rate and Heart Rate Variability and converts it to visualizations in virtual experiences that reduce pain by over 46%. Flowly has also been studied in NIH-backed clinical trials that sho...

Lisa Falco is the author of “Go Figure! The astonishing science of the female body”. She was previously Director of Data Science at Ava, a Swiss FemTech startup, where she led a team developing algorithms and artificial intelligence in order to help women get pregnant faster by using their physiological data based on their menstrual cycle. Her book Go Figure, unravels the mystery surrounding women...

In today’s episode, I interview Laura-June Clarke, the CEO and founder of Moonai. Monnai is an app that uses audio wavelengths to improve pain experienced during one’s period. Certain sounds, frequencies, and rhythms can impact the central nervous system and help reduce the perception of menstrual pain. Moonai is partnered with neuroscientists, gynecologists, and psychoacoustic experts to provide...