Women’s HealthX has announced its lineup of healthcare trailblazers speaking on Chronic Disease Management, alongside other specialisations including Fertility, Sexual Health, Maternity, Menopause and Cognitive Health, taking a holistic approach to women’s health.

It will bring together 750+ leaders across pharma, health systems, and innovation to address one of the most urgent and underexamined challenges in healthcare; the sex difference gap in data and evidence.

Since cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death among women globally, and autoimmune and neurological conditions affect women at significantly higher rates, Women’s HealthX will home in on chronic disease management with 17+ sessions spotlighting case studies and lessons learned.

The Chronic Disease Management Stage at Women’s HealthX responds directly to this gap, convening senior decision makers and innovators to explore how sex specific science, digital health, and new care models can reshape outcomes for women.

Attending pharma & healthcare organisations include:

• Tracy Sims, Executive Director, Cardiometabolic Health, Eli Lilly
• Adrian Kielhorn, Senior Director, Global Head HEOR Neurology, Alexion Pharmaceuticals
• Lauren Powell, Head of Health Equity and Clinical Innovation, Biogen
• Amy Kao, SVP, Head of Neuroscience and Immunology Research, EMD Serono
• Stella Vnook, Executive Chair and CEO, Kaida Biopharma
• Amanda Borsky, Director, Clinical Research, Northwell Health
• Lacey McIntosh, Division Chief, Oncologic and Molecular Imaging, UMass Memorial Medical Center
• Nicole Turck, Vice President Operations, Women’s Health, Corewell Health
• Mette Dyhrberg, CEO, Autoimmune Registry
• Lyn Agostinelli, Principal Consultant, Halloran Consulting Group

Sessions addressing the real gaps in women’s chronic care

The agenda features a series of high impact sessions tackling the structural and scientific gaps in women’s health:

• Improving outcomes in obesity through evidence based person centered care: Eli Lilly
• Tackling sex based health inequities by breaking down barriers and bias: Alexion Pharmaceuticals
• Close the health equity gap in women’s health by improving how autoimmune diseases are diagnosed, treated and managed: Autoimmune Registry
• How a GYN only care model is driving faster access to gynecological care: Corewell Health
• Transforming early detection in ovarian cancer: new pathways to accuracy, safety, and better outcomes: UMass Memorial Medical Center

Panel discussions include:

• Why chronic disease looks different in women and why health systems haven’t adapted: Biogen, Kaida Biopharma, EMD Serono
• How can we better engage with our customers: Northwell Health, Halloran Consulting Group

Health equity starts here. REGISTER YOUR PLACE

Why This Matters Now

Women’s HealthX positions chronic disease not just as a clinical challenge, but as a critical frontier for innovation, investment, and system redesign.

From AI powered monitoring and digital therapeutics to real world data and integrated care pathways, the stage highlights where meaningful progress is already being made and where the biggest opportunities lie.

For the FemTech ecosystem, this represents a pivotal moment: aligning technology, clinical insight, and commercial strategy to finally close the long standing data and care gaps in women’s health.

About Women’s HealthX

Women’s HealthX is where the transformation of women’s health begins at its true foundation: data, science, and evidence.

It’s the leading event dedicated to closing the sex difference data gap and accelerating breakthroughs through science driven, real world case studies.

Taking place on December 3 to 4, 2026 in Boston, USA, the exhibition will bring together more than 750 healthcare leaders, including clinicians, payers, employers, investors, and policymakers.

Seven different stages with 150+ expert speakers taking an holistic approach to women’s health. From fertility, maternity, sexual health, cognitive health, menopause and chronic disease, we address care at every stage of a woman’s life.

Ovarian cancer cases are rising among younger adults in England, with bowel cancer showing a similar pattern, a new study suggests.

Researchers said excess weight is a key contributor, but is unlikely on its own to explain the pattern.

The authors wrote: “These patterns suggest that while similar risk factors across ages are likely, some cancers may have age-specific exposures, susceptibilities, or differences in screening and detection practices.”

They added: “Although overweight and obesity are linked to 10 of the 11 cancers evaluated and account for a substantial proportion of cancer cases, both BMI-attributable and BMI-non-attributable incidence rates have increased, though the latter more slowly, suggesting other contributors.”

The study analysed cancer incidence, meaning new diagnoses, in England between 2001 and 2019 across more than 20 cancer types, comparing adults aged 20 to 49 with those aged 50 and over.

Among younger women, cases of 16 out of 22 cancers increased significantly over the period, while among younger men, 11 out of 21 cancers increased significantly.

In particular, there was a significant rise in 11 cancers with known behavioural risk factors among adults under 50. These were thyroid, multiple myeloma, liver, kidney, gallbladder, bowel, pancreatic, endometrial, mouth, breast and ovarian cancers.

Rates of all 11 also rose significantly among adults aged 50 and over, with the notable exceptions of bowel and ovarian cancer.

Five cancers, endometrial, kidney, pancreatic, multiple myeloma and thyroid cancer, increased significantly faster in younger than in older women, while multiple myeloma increased faster in younger than in older men.

The researchers looked at established risk factors including smoking, alcohol intake, diet, physical inactivity and body mass index, a measure used to assess whether someone is underweight, a healthy weight, overweight or obese.

With the exception of mouth cancer, all 11 cancers were associated with obesity. Six, liver, bowel, mouth, pancreatic, kidney and ovarian, were also linked to smoking.

Four, liver, bowel, mouth and breast, were associated with alcohol intake. Three, bowel, breast and endometrial, were linked to physical inactivity, and one, bowel, was associated with dietary factors.

But apart from excess weight, trends in those risk factors over the past one to two decades were stable or improving among younger adults.

That suggests other factors may also play a part, including reproductive history, early-life or prenatal exposures, and changes in diagnosis and detection.

The study noted that red meat consumption fell among younger adults, while fibre intake remained stable or slightly improved in both sexes between 2009 and 2019, although more than 90 per cent of younger adults were still not eating enough fibre in 2018.

Established behavioural risk factors accounted for a substantial share of cancer cases.

Excess weight was the risk factor associated with most cancers in 2019, ranging from 5 per cent for ovarian cancer to 37 per cent for endometrial cancer.

The researchers said the findings were based on observational data, meaning the study could identify patterns but could not prove cause and effect.

They also noted there were no consistent long-term national data for several risk factors, that the analysis was limited to England rather than the UK, and that cancer remains far more common overall in older adults despite the rise in cases among younger people.