New research has revealed privacy and advice concerns surrounding tech aimed at helping women navigate the menopause.

The study, which surveyed 310 UK participants, warns that sensitive data collected from women about their health is often vulnerable to exploitation, ranging from targeted financial scams to workplace discrimination and misinformation.

With nearly one million women in the UK leaving their jobs due to menopausal symptoms, and an estimated 13m currently perimenopausal or menopausal, new digital technology has boomed, promising to provide medical advice and solutions.

However, the research identified significant security gaps in these technologies, including the lack of medical professionals on community forums, leading to the spread of unverified medical advice and misinformation.

The large-scale study, which is the first of its kind, also highlighted a growing tension between the benefits of menopause tech and the privacy risks associated with the intimate data these services collect.

Unlike fertility trackers, which have faced intense scrutiny following legal changes such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the US, menopause tech remains under-researched and under-regulated.

Dr Maryam Mehrnezhad, from the information security department at Royal Holloway and co-author, said: “Many women are turning to technology to navigate the diagnostic ambiguity of going through the menopause and to combat the long waiting times often associated with traditional healthcare.”

This makes the absence of trained medical professionals on these tech community forums, who can create misinformation, a real serious threat to participants.

Users we surveyed also expressed deep fears regarding data use, specifically that intimate health data, including emotional symptoms and sexual activity history, could be accessed by insurance companies or employers.

Such data types can be used to discriminate users e.g., in regarding their health insurances and in workplaces.

Dr Taylor Robinson, co-author and post-doctoral researcher at Royal Holloway, added: “Self-tracking apps are becoming essential tools for personal advocacy, allowing users to document their journeys and foster deeper self-reflection, which ultimately improves their interactions with doctors, but more needs to be done to protect those using the apps.”

As the femtech industry is projected to reach nearly US$30bn by 2032, the authors argue that developers and policymakers must prioritise privacy to ensure digital tools remain a safe resource for those experiencing the complexities of menopause.

Rebecca Jones and Sophie Hawkes, PhD students and co-authors, added that digital platforms and social media groups provide a vital lifeline by alleviating the isolation often tied to menopause, offering a dedicated space for users to share advice and validate their experiences and, with much more rigorous scrutiny on real healthcare advice, they can be a great asset for many.

This research provides crucial practical data to inform secure, user-centric design for policymakers and menopause tech developers, noting that many current apps and devices fall short of GDPR standards by making privacy notices difficult to access or understand.

Three women have been named winners of the UK young scientist awards, the country’s largest unrestricted prize for young researchers, marking only the second time all laureates have been female.

Thi Hoang Duong (Kelly) Nguyen, Maxie M. Roessler and Paola Pinilla each received £100,000 at a ceremony held at Banqueting House in London on 24 February 2026.

The remaining six finalists were awarded £30,000 each.

The winners were selected from nine finalists and a wider field of 91 nominees drawn from 46 academic and research institutions across the UK.

An independent jury chose one laureate in each of three categories: life sciences, chemical sciences, and physical sciences and engineering.

Nicholas B. Dirks is president and chief executive of The New York Academy of Sciences and chair of the awards’ scientific advisory council.

Dirks said: “This is a remarkable group of laureates whose work reflects both scientific brilliance and real-world impact.

“Notably, this marks the second time in the history of the Blavatnik Awards in the United Kingdom that all three laureates are women scientists.

“On behalf of The New York Academy of Sciences, we celebrate the representation and success of women in science and congratulate these winning laureates.”

Nguyen, a molecular biologist at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, was recognised for research into telomerase, an enzyme that helps protect the ends of chromosomes during cell division.

Her work sheds light on how disruptions in telomerase activity are linked to premature ageing and cancer.

She used cryo-electron microscopy, a technique that allows scientists to visualise biological structures at extremely high resolution, to produce the first atomic-level model of the enzyme.

Roessler, a bioinorganic chemist at Imperial College London, was recognised for developing new methods that reveal how cells generate energy through rapid electron transfer.

Her findings could inform future work on catalysts and the development of new functional materials.

Pinilla, an astrophysicist at University College London, was recognised for research into how planets form.

Using telescope data and computer modelling, she identified structures in protoplanetary discs, rings of gas and dust around young stars, that trap dust and support planet formation.

Sir Leonard Blavatnik, founder of Access Industries and the Blavatnik Family Foundation, said: “The exceptional talent celebrated through these awards reflects the creativity and ambition that continue to place the UK at the forefront of scientific advancement.

“It is a privilege to recognise their work and to support the next stage of their scientific journeys.”

The Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists are open to UK-based researchers aged 42 or under.

Now in their ninth year in the UK, the awards also run parallel programmes in the US and Israel.

Since launching in the UK in 2017, 73 honourees have received nearly £3.3m in prize funding.

By the end of 2026, the awards are expected to have distributed more than US$20m to over 500 scientists and engineers worldwide.

Women are not protected from heart attack even though they usually have less artery plaque than men, according to a study of more than 4,200 adults.

Researchers found that heart attack and chest pain risk in women began at lower levels of artery plaque, the fatty material that builds up inside blood vessels and can restrict blood flow to the heart.

Risk also increased more rapidly in women than in men, particularly after menopause.

The research was carried out by scientists at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Borek Foldyna, assistant professor in radiology at Harvard Medical School, said: “Our findings underscore that women are not ‘protected’ from coronary events despite having lower plaque volumes.

“Because women have smaller coronary arteries, a small amount of plaque can have a bigger impact.

“Moderate increases in plaque burden appear to have disproportionate risk in women, suggesting that standard definitions of high risk may underestimate risk in women.”

The study analysed health data from more than 4,200 adults with stable chest pain and no previous coronary artery disease.

Participants underwent diagnostic evaluation using coronary computed tomography angiography, a specialised X-ray scan of the heart’s arteries, and were followed for about two years.

Fewer women had plaque in their coronary arteries than men, with plaque present in 55 per cent of women compared with 75 per cent of men.

Women also had a lower overall plaque volume. Despite this, women were nearly as likely as men to die from any cause, have a non-fatal heart attack or be hospitalised for chest pain.

The analysis showed that women’s risk began to rise when plaque burden reached 20 per cent, compared with 28 per cent in men. As plaque levels increased, risk rose more sharply in women.

Heart disease is the leading cause of illness and death in the US and worldwide, according to the American Heart Association.

Cardiovascular disease was responsible for 433,254 deaths among females of all ages in the US, accounting for 47.3 per cent of deaths from the condition.

Stacey E. Rosen is volunteer president of the American Heart Association and executive director of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell Health in New York City.

She said: “These findings are another important example of why it is imperative to recognise that cardiovascular disease can impact men and women so differently.

“There is an overdue recognition of fundamental, biological differences in the way health conditions manifest in women versus men, and these differences can influence everything from risk factors to symptoms to treatment response.

“I’m heartened to see more research such as this emerging as we address ways to reduce cardiovascular disease burden among all people.”