MOTHER-podcast with Karina Vazirova

How far can we push our biology? Meet Joyce Harper, an internationally renowned, award-winning scientist and Professor of Reproductive Science at University College London, Institute for Women’s Health. Joyce has worked in the fields of fertility, genetics, reproductive health and women’s health for over 30 years, and regularly appears in the press, on radio and TV. She is the mother of three sons...

What makes you, you ? Meet Dr. Sarah McKay - a neuroscientist, TEDx speaker, science communicator and author of The Women's Brain Book, which explores the female lifespan through the lens of neurobiology, and Baby Brain , about how pregnancy and motherhood shape the brain. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Sydney Morning Herald, and on ABC’s Catalyst. Sarah is als...

How do religion and culture shape our relationship with our body? Meet Dr. Aziza Sesay, a GP, GP Educator, Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, Host, Speaker and Health Content Creator. She runs a health platform called ‘Talks with Dr. Sesay', sharing evidence-based health information on a variety of topics, specifically women’s health, cancer awareness, mental health and health inequity. Dr. Sesay...

What if we could map where trauma is stored in the body? Meet Tracy Bale, the president of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) and a leading neuroscientist exploring the connection between the brain, body, environment, and mental health. She is the Anschutz Foundation Endowed Chair in Women's Integrated Mental and Physical Health Research, Director for InterGenerational Stress and...

You can see how much society values women's health by the magnitude of the crisis in maternity care. Meet Leah Hazard, a practising midwife, activist, award-winning author , and mother of 2 daughters. Her book Womb: The Inside Story of Where We All Began is a vital investigation of the body’s most miraculous and misunderstood organ. From smart tampons to womb transplants, trans healthcare to repro...

The global beauty industry is worth over $260 billion, but has it lulled us into a collective beauty sleep? This week’s episode is a wake-up call.  Meet Jessica DeFino, an award-winning beauty reporter and critic (the New York Times , the Sunday Times, Vice, The Guardian ). A one-time editor for the Kardashian-Jenner Official Apps and a former product obsessive, she now explores how beauty cu...

Could hormones be the key to longevity? Dr. Louise Newson is one of the world’s leading voices in menopause and hormone health, a GP, best-selling author, and founder of Newson Health, the largest menopause clinic globally. She has transformed the landscape of women’s health through her groundbreaking work in clinical care, research, education, and public advocacy. Louise founded The Menopause Cha...

What happens in the brain during menstrual cycles, post-partum and menopause? Meet Emilė Radytė, the founder of Samphire Neuroscience, a technology company creating neuroscientific solutions for women. Their first product Nettle uses brain stimulation to treat period pain non-invasively. In this episode, Emilė brings the neuroscientific perspective to the show and explains what happens in the brai...

Imagine a digital twin for a pregnancy: a model based on the unique geometry of a mother's uterus, capable of anticipating potential complications. Michelle Oyen, PhD, a materials scientist and Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Wayne State University, is bringing the engineering perspective to pregnancy. She explains that many aspects of pregnancy involve forces—rupturing, pushing,...

Can better sex education and values transform our culture? Meet Cindy Gallop, a legendary advertising executive, the founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, and one of the most influential entrepreneurs in SexTech today. At MakeLoveNotPorn, Cindy's mission is to help end rape culture by showing how wonderful great, consensual, communicative sex is in the real world, and role-modelling good sexual values and b...

What happens inside a psychedelic retreat? Meet Dr. Lauren Macdonald - a psychiatry doctor, group retreat facilitator and psychedelic therapy guide. She worked with patients in psychedelic clinical trials at Imperial College London and now leads psychedelic retreats around the world. Her approach includes integrating traditional and Western medicine. In this episode, you'll hear what happens at Th...

What would it take to create an Artificial Ovary? Meet Ariella Shikanov, professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan. Earlier this year, her team at Shikanov Lab made history when they created a new Map of the Ovary. With the support of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Ariella's team mapped gene expression in various regions of the ovary, marking a major milestone in our under...

Could the discovery of breast milk microbiome transform the health of future generations? Meet Dr. Lydia Mapstone (microbiologist) and Dr. Sioned Fôn Jones (chemist & biophysicist), the founders of BoobyBiome. Sioned and Lydia explain that a mother’s breast milk contains a unique microbiome. This microbiome influences up to 40% of a baby’s gut and is the key to immune health. Currently, the on...

Is there a link between female sexuality, creativity and power? Meet Sophie Cohen, the founder of a cult underground erotic theatre company House of Vixens, a film director, an ex-stripper, and a sex coach who helps people discover their sexuality and eroticism. This show is about pushing the boundaries of the female experience. To do that, we have to look in the shadows. And that is exactly where...

Can menstrual blood become the ultimate biohacking tool for women? Meet Dr. Sara Naseri, the co-founder and CEO of Qvin. This year Qvin got FDA approval for the first even diagnostic menstrual pad, proving that menstrual blood has tremendous medical utility. Today, women in the US can already order the Q-pad to test their blood glucose levels. This is just the beginning. Qvin is already working on...

Could ovaries hold the keys to our health and longevity? The organs orchestrating life are driving far more than fertility. A groundbreaking wave of scientific research into ovarian function could revolutionize our approach to medicine. Jennifer Garrison has a PhD in neuroscience, is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality ("GCR...

Our bodies are a byproduct of millions of years of evolution. MOTHER-nature, as the most iterative technologist, has orchestrated the female form - from the menstrual cycles to orgasms, from pregnancies to menopause. But, how? Why did our biology evolve to be exactly the way it is today? Deena Emera , PhD is an evolutionary geneticist, author, educator and senior scientist at the Buck Institute fo...

Could psychedelics start a new era in women's holistic health? Dr. Grace Blest-Hopley is a Neuroscientist with 10 years of experience researching cannabis, cannabinoids, and psychedelics. She is the founder of Hystelica - the first research organisation in the world focused on understanding women's biology for safe and effective psychedelic use. Grace currently serves as the Chief Scientific Offic...

How does the female body respond to space? Dr. Shawna Pandya is a scientist-astronaut candidate with Project  PoSSUM , physician, aquanaut, speaker, martial artist, advanced diver, skydiver, pilot-in-training, VP Immersive Medicine with  Luxsonic Technologies  and Fellow of the  Explorers’ Club . She is also the Director of the PosSUM Space Medicine Group and Chief Instructor o...

What if we could delay the age of menopause? Staša Stanković, PhD is a geneticist and bioinformatician with a PhD in Reproductive Genomics from the University of Cambridge. She focuses on deciphering genetic architecture of reproductive ageing and fertility, and their link to health outcomes in women. This work led to the discovery of genetic signals that influence the age women begin menop...

Are we entering a new dawn of sexual liberation? Aella is a model, camgirl, escort and internet personality. She has been one of the highest-earning models on OnlyFans, making up to $100,000/month. But what makes her a truly fascinating human is her highly analytical, curious and creative mind. Aella realised that no one was asking questions about sexual preferences in a systemic way. So she...

Could psychedelics be a game changer for women's health? Nina Patrick, PhD - Head of Innovation at the Champalimaud Foundation Center of the Unknown in Lisbon, a state-of-the-art research facility working on cutting-edge technology in oncology and neuroscience. Her popular newsletter, Nina's Notes, is a bite-sized editorial on science & health topics like longevity, psychedelics, web3, space t...

Darwin viewed females as passive and coy. Today's female scientists are revealing the real truth about animal queens! Lucy Cooke is a British zoologist and an author, director and television producer. She is a graduate of the University of Oxford, where she was tutored by Richard Dawkins. A trailblazer in the field of evolutionary biology, Cooke’s works have included multiple BBC films and documen...

Did you know that the old Islamic texts celebrated female pleasure? Noor and Sura are the founders of Mauj, the first sexual and menstrual wellness brand by and for Arab women. Mauj exists to de-stigmatize the conversation around women’s bodies in the Arab world and to make the experience of discovering our bodies, sexuality, and pleasure as shame-free, easy, and celebratory as possible. Sinc...

What secrets do our ovaries hold? Dr Güneş Taylor is a postdoctoral research scientist at The Francis Crick Institute (https://www.crick.ac.uk/). As a molecular biologist, she uses many cutting-edge technologies to understand how reproductive systems are built. She is now leading an independent research program, unravelling details of ovarian function, with the goal of developing solutions for wom...