Women's Health

ReConstruct is a platform for growing, vascularizing, and implanting patient-derived tissues that enable safer breast reconstruction after cancer surgery.

Lactation Biologics is developing a long-lasting, self-injectable treatment to help nursing mothers feed their babies naturally, helping them get the best nutrition possible in the face of climate disasters and supply chain disruptions.

The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2023, approximately 20,000 new cases of ovarian cancer will be diagnosed, and more that 13,000 women will tragically succumb to this devastating disease. Early detection is crucial for improving survival rates, yet ovarian cancer is often diagnosed at advanced stage due to subtle symptoms and a lack of...

Treating breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain is an extreme challenge because most drugs are not able to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB). About one in three patients with HER2+ or triple negative breast cancer will develop brain metastases, which leads to high morbidity and mortalities. There is currently no effective, systemic treatment...

Endometriosis is a common disease affecting 10% of women globally, making it one of the largest unaddressed indications in the world. It is associated with infertility and significant, frequently debilitating pain. Understanding its pain mechanisms is critical for targeted endometriosis treatments. We are developing in vitro models of ectopic endometrial lesions and studying connections to...

Endometriosis, a debilitating condition affecting approximately 190 million women and girls during their reproductive years, is marked by the abnormal growth of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus, leading to acute pelvic pain and long-term fertility issues. Currently, diagnosing the disease requires surgery and treatment often involves hormonal suppression with unwanted side effects. In advanced stages,...

Placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) is a condition where the placenta attaches too deeply into the uterine wall, causing severe bleeding and complications for the mother. PAS occurs in 1 in 300 to 500 deliveries — a 10-fold increase in the past 50 years. However, more than 50% of cases are not detected before delivery. To...

Obstetric fistula is a devastating condition characterized by an abnormal connection between the female genital tract and the bladder or rectum. It affects more than two million women in Africa and Asia and leads to constant leakage of blood, urine, and stool, causing pain, infection, social ostracization, and physical isolation. Current treatment through reconstructive surgery...

Ovarian torsion (OT) is a serious medical condition where an ovary twists around the tissue that supports it, which can cut off blood supply to the ovary and sometimes the fallopian tube, causing severe pain. If blood flow is not quickly restored, the ovary might need to be surgically removed. Current diagnostic methods are often...

The long-term impact of birth control remains largely unknown, and as our knowledge of traditional methods evolves, so must our innovations to uncover safe, effective, and non-hormonal options. By way of novel compounds that slow sperm function, this technology is offering a new form of male and vaginal contraceptive. Our early tests show promising results,...

Nearly 80% of women who survive cancer go on to struggle with fertility. Our team is developing an innovative approach using ovarian tissue cryopreservation: freezing and storing ovarian tissue to preserve fertility potential. By combining patient-derived cells and innovative techniques, we are accelerating tissue engraftment, boosting pregnancy rates, and preserving vital ovarian function. Our multidisciplinary...

Infertility is a global health problem, affecting nearly every industrialized nation in the world, and an estimated 10% of men and women in the US. Ovarian abnormalities and oogenesis disorders are a leading cause of female infertility, but little is known about their underlying genetic causes due to lack of suitable research models. We’re collaborating...

Infertility is a global health issue affecting 186 million people worldwide. It can be linked to microbiome interactions in the cervix, especially women with bacterial vaginosis (BV), a condition affecting 30% of women of reproductive age. Our microfluidic Cervix Chip model provides the first evidence that BV-related infections can impair sperm function due to an...

Microbes in our gut have been shown to impact the brain, which is the control center for most of the body’s functions. Research shows that the gut microbiome affects our mood and mental health, including depression. This regulation is called the gut-brain axis. Other organs beyond the gut — including those in the female genital...

Despite the clear biological impact of the vaginal microbiome on women’s health, there are no practical diagnostics for vaginal bacterial composition, which limits clinical care and research. We plan to develop a rapid diagnostic platform to identify key vaginal microbial community members and categorize its diversity, enabling researchers and clinicians to better understand variations in...

Vaginal infections, especially bacterial vaginosis (BV), are a major concern for women’s health. Current diagnosis methods are subjective and often miss the mark, particularly for asymptomatic women. Researchers have developed a promising new approach using a test that analyzes the fern-like patterns formed when cervical mucus dries on a slide. Healthy mucus forms distinct fern...

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating illness that disproportionately affects women, causing severe fatigue, cognitive difficulties, sleeping problems, dizziness, and pain. Currently, no treatment exists for ME/CFS. Our team is creating accurate disease models to study brain activity, with the aim of understanding if ME/CFS is caused by continuous activation of interconnected brain...

The burden of contraception falls predominantly on women, often causes unpleasant side effects, and can fail if not strictly adhered to. We envision a contraceptive approach that is immediate, non-surgical, reversible, and accessible to both women and men. We’re developing a platform that uses hydrogel “bioblocks” for minimally invasive contraceptive implants, which could allow for...

Prefabricated, “one-size-fits-all” medical implants fail to match individual anatomies and can result in tissue damage and impaired healing. To address this concern, we’re pioneering transcatheter technology to create custom implants directly inside patients, tailored to their unique anatomy, to provide safer and more effective treatments across various medical conditions. As a first application, we are...

Muscle loss is a major concern for women as they enter perimenopause, as it can cause an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and other health conditions. We’re developing wearable sensors and using machine learning to guide and track strength training at home. By offering personalized guidance without the high cost of personal trainers, the...

Currently, about 10% of women who undergo mammograms have a false-positive result, leading to additional tests, including invasive biopsies. We’re developing a blood test to be administered at the time of breast imaging that could reduce the number of women who are encouraged to get biopsies but do not ultimately have breast cancer. Our study...

We seek to address current challenges of fortifying and storing breast milks in order to provide adequate nutrition to preterm babies. Current methods of treating breast milk, such as lyophilization and spray drying, fail to preserve essential nutrients. Our team, which combines medical, nutritional, and scientific expertise, is comparing current methods with novel gas extrusion...

Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) are advised to achieve remission before pregnancy, in an effort to decrease pregnancy-related intestinal issues, including fibrosis. Yet the exact mechanisms underlying the fluctuation of their symptoms remain unclear and there are no treatments currently available. To close this knowledge gap, we are treating our IBD Organ Chips with...

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) disproportionately affects women, who also experience IBD symptoms differently than men. Through research with human Organ Chips, we identified the role of connective tissue in aggravating inflammation in the nearby intestinal cells of IBD patients. We will use this chip technology to enable rapid screening of stromal cells, crucial for understanding...

This project is encapsulating a type of estrogen in special hydrogels that release the hormone steadily over a longer period of time. This method aims to provide consistent relief from autoimmune symptoms with fewer side effects, making it easier for countless women to manage their conditions effectively.

Lymphedema is a painful condition affecting millions of women worldwide, often caused by surgical treatment of breast and gynecologic cancers, or a biological predisposition. While no medicines are currently available to address lymphatic disease, we are combining a bioengineered human lymphatic-on-chip platform, lymphatic cell biology, and drug development expertise in an interdisciplinary effort to transform...

Autoimmune diseases disproportionately affect women, with 80% of individuals suffering from these conditions being female. These diseases often lead to chronic and debilitating symptoms. Early and accurate diagnosis is crucial for effective management. Multi-analyte differentiation of protein biomarkers holds immense promise in distinguishing between various autoimmune diseases, enabling tailored treatment plans. To improve patient outcomes,...

Fertility treatments like in-vitro fertilization (IVF) offer hope to many struggling with infertility, yet success rates remain below 40% for women under 40 in the U.S. The emotional, physical, and financial strains of failed IVF cycles highlight the urgent need for improved technologies that enhance the effectiveness and accessibility of these treatments. Current monitoring methods...

Personalized dosing is the future of medication, moving towards treatments based on individual needs. Current dosing practices are based on average responses from limited clinical trials, overlooking variations due to gender, race, and genetics. Women are frequently excluded from this research and risk receiving dosages designed for men, which increases the chance of adverse effects....

Preterm birth affects over 13 million infants annually and is a leading cause of childhood mortality and lifelong disability. In the U.S., it disproportionately impacts Black infants (14.6%) compared to Hispanic (10.0%) and White (9.4%) infants, leading to severe health issues like cerebral palsy and sensory impairments, and causing trauma for parents. Effective diagnostics and...

Over 12,000 women die of ovarian cancer every year, yet ovarian cancer receives less than 1% of research funding compared to other solid tumors. Early symptoms can often mimic less serious conditions, and delayed diagnoses mean that 80% of ovarian cancer cases are metastatic at the time of detection. For these patients, the 5-year survival...

Our team is developing pre-clinical female urethra and bladder chip models to better understand lower urinary tract organs in support of women’s health and UTI prevention. The cells and cell buffers from these organ chip models will be analyzed for protein differences created by the presence of infection. All results will be analyzed bioinformatically to...

Endometriosis is a debilitating condition affecting more than 11% of women during their reproductive years, where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of it, causing pain and fertility issues. While current treatments predominantly focus on alleviating the pain associated with endometriosis, a comprehensive cure remains elusive. A recent study found that...

Interactions between a woman’s microbiome and the microenvironment of the reproductive tract are crucial for vaginal health. Disruptions of the microbial balance can lead to conditions like HIV, bacterial vaginosis, miscarriage and preterm birth. Yet current research methods, such as microbial cultures and metagenomic analysis, often fail to replicate the cervicovaginal environment accurately. Our Cervix...