Entrepreneur
Research roundup: Discover the latest research and developments in fem tech
Fem Tech World explores the latest research developments impacting on women’s health.
AI system detects heart defects on foetal ultrasound exams
A new study has evaluated whether an artificial intelligence (AI) system can improve the detection of congenital heart defects on foetal ultrasound exams among both general OBGYNs and maternal foetal medicine specialists.
The team found that assistance by the AI system significantly improved detection of studies suspicious for congenital heart defects. AI may play a pivotal role in improving prenatal detection of CHD.
Inhibitor drugs to treat aggressive breast cancer identified
Two inhibitor drugs with the potential to interrupt disease progression have been identified in a new study.
By examining the biology of metaplastic breast cancer and comparing it to non-metaplastic triple negative breast cancer, a team of researchers have discovered metaplastic breast cancers typically exhibit two unique signalling pathways in their cell interaction.
The team were able to disrupt these pathways using a class of inhibitors typically used to treat advanced cancers – phosphoinositide 3 kinase inhibitor (P13K) – in combination with a nitric oxide inhibitor (NOS) typically used to treat septic shock, cardiovascular disease and other conditions.
When introduced to the cell, these drugs disrupted these pathways, making the treatment more effective.
The team say the findings offer a promising therapeutic option for one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat subtypes of breast cancer.
Could the contraceptive pill reduce risk of ovarian cancer?
The oral contraceptive pill reduced the risk of ovarian cancer by 26 per cent among women who had ever used the Pill, and by 43 per cent for women who had used the Pill after the age of 45, a new study has found.
Biomarkers associated with ovarian cancer risk were also identified in the study, including several characteristics of red blood cells and certain liver enzymes in the blood, with lower body weight and shorter stature associating with a lower risk of ovarian cancer.
Researchers also found that women who had given birth to two or more children had a 39 per cent reduced risk of developing ovarian cancer compared to those who had not had children.
Maternal biomarker test significantly reduces neonatal morbidities
A biomarker test to identify pregnant people at higher risk of preterm birth significantly improved neonatal outcomes, including reducing infant morbidity as well as reducing admissions to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and the amount of time spent in the NICU.
In a clinical trial, the biomarker test, which analysed a participant’s blood, was administered in the middle of the second trimester of pregnancy to identify individuals at higher risk of delivering an infant preterm.
The test classified 23.5 percent of participants as higher risk within the preterm birth prevention arm. In addition to the traditional standard of care, individuals identified as high risk were given a low-risk and low-cost regimen of daily vaginal progesterone and low-dose aspirin and also assigned weekly standardised phone calls with a nurse.
The researchers say that the findings suggest a transformative strategy for reducing neonatal complications.
No evidence that maternal sickness during pregnancy causes autism
Of the few conditions truly associated with autism, a new study reveals that all of them are actually complications with the foetus — leading the authors to believe that those symptoms were early signs of autism in the child and not the cause of it.
The study included an analysis of the medical histories of more than 1.1 million pregnancies (among 600,000 mothers) from a national registry in Denmark.
The researchers corrected for factors that could confound, or offer an alternative explanation for, the link between the diagnosis a woman received and a child’s autism diagnosis.
These factors include sociodemographic status and the mother’s age during pregnancy, since children of older mothers are more likely to be diagnosed with autism, and their mothers are also more likely to receive certain diagnoses, such as hypertension, than their younger counterparts.
After accounting for these confounding factors, as well as for concurrent diagnoses, 30 were still statistically associated with autism in the child.
To determine if these happened to occur alongside rather than cause autism, the researchers then included the siblings of autistic children in the analysis. If a mother was diagnosed with the same condition during pregnancies of children with and without autism, then it would suggest that factors other than her diagnosis were influencing the link with autism.
The researchers say their interpretation is that these foetal diagnoses likely do not cause autism, but are instead early signs of it.
You have until Friday to nominate your femtech company of the year.
The award is one of 10 featuring at Femtech World’s third annual awards event, which attracts entries from across the UK, EU and Europe.
The Company of the Year Award is for companies that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in tackling women’s health needs through groundbreaking products, services or platforms that are shaping the future of global femtech.
If your company is driving innovation, impact and growth in this space, this award was made for you.
About the sponsor: Femovate
The category is backed by Femovate, the global femtech incubator using design to fuel innovation across every stage of a woman’s health journey, from proactive prevention through to personalised treatment.
Femovate has invested over US$2 million in design capital, working side-by-side with founding teams to bring market-ready solutions to life.
The startups it supports have collectively raised US$120 million, launched 30 products, and secured seven FDA clearances.
Why enter?
The Femtech World Awards are free to enter.
Winners and shortlisted companies receive extensive coverage across all Femtech World platforms.
Winners will also receive a trophy and the opportunity to be featured in an interview for the publication.
Find out more about the Femtech World Award and enter here by 4pm BST on Friday 17.
By Chaitra Vedullapalli, founder and president, Women in Cloud
Today’s leaders are carrying more than responsibilities.
They are carrying caregiving roles, financial pressures, legal complexities, and the quiet emotional weight of sustaining performance in unpredictable times.
And yet, most leadership forums still focus on productivity, growth, and scale, rarely addressing the human systems that enable sustained leadership.
At Women in Cloud, we believe the next generation of leadership will not be defined by endurance alone, but by discipline, preparation, and self-respect.
That is why we are proud to announce the #WICxWellness Summit 2026: The Disciplined Advantage.
This is a wellness summit focused on leadership preparedness.
Why This Summit Matters Now
Across our global community, a clear pattern has emerged.
- More professionals and executives are quietly navigating:
- Life-threatening health crises, personally or within their families
- Financial stress caused by medical, caregiving, or business shocks
- Legal and healthcare decisions with long-term consequences
- Career interruptions due to caregiving responsibilities
- Chronic exhaustion, grief, and emotional isolation
These experiences are widespread, yet rarely discussed in executive settings.
#WICxWellness 2026 brings these realities into the open with compassion, clarity, and practical guidance, so leaders can prepare, adapt, and continue forward without breaking.
This is wellness as a leadership discipline.
What We Will Explore
This year’s summit is designed to provide grounded, immediately applicable insights for founders, executives, and senior leaders.
Executive Function Under Chronic Stress
Keynote with Jennifer Brown
Focus Areas:
- Understand how chronic stress alters judgment, focus, and emotional regulation
- Identify early warning signs of cognitive overload in leadership roles
- Adaptability as a Cognitive Anchor: Navigating rapid change without compromising decision-making.
- Resilience Through Connection: Building human-centric teams to mitigate the stress of uncertainty.
- Navigating Change with Emotional Intelligence: Regulating stress responses to maintain clarity and empathy.
- Systemic Agility in High-Pressure Environments: Creating foundations of psychological safety that protect organizational function
Labs That Matter (And What to Do With Them)
Fireside Chat with Chelsey Galipeau and Chaitra Vedullapalli
Focus Areas:
- Which health tests are worth the time and investment
- Interpreting results without panic
- Preventive strategies for executive longevity
- Avoiding unnecessary medical spending
Caretaking Without Collapse
Panel With Karen Fassio, Anca Platon Trifan, Scilla Andreen, Clara Schroeder, Sheena Yap Chan
Focus Areas:
- Managing family and professional demands without burnout
- Setting humane boundaries
- Building sustainable support systems
- Ending silent sacrifice in leadership
Food as a Stability System (Not a Diet)
Fireside Chat with Nancy Watt and Meagan T. Copelin
Focus Areas:
- Nutrition for sustained energy and clarity
- Blood sugar and decision-making
- Realistic eating during travel and stress
- Food as operational resilience
Autoimmunity, Hormones & Cardiac Risk in Real Life
Fireside Chat with Dr. Linda Bing
Focus Areas:
- Managing invisible health risks
- Hormonal transitions and stamina
- Flare prevention at work
- Energy mapping for leadership performance
A Different Kind of Leadership Conversation
At Women in Cloud, we have learned something fundamental:
Performance is visible. Discipline is invisible.
Yet discipline determines whether leaders can serve, build, and lead over decades, not just quarters.
The Disciplined Advantage is about building that resilience intentionally.
Through science, lived experience, and practical frameworks, this summit equips leaders to:
- Anticipate strain instead of reacting to a crisis Design sustainable work rhythms
- Protect cognitive and emotional capital
- Lead from grounded strength
This is leadership infrastructure for the next decade.
Join Us
If you are a founder, executive, technologist, or senior professional navigating complexity and determined to lead well without sacrificing your health, clarity, or longevity, this summit is for you.
The #WICxWellness Summit 2026 is where performance meets preservation. Where ambition meets sustainability. Where leadership becomes truly durable.
We look forward to welcoming you. The Disciplined Advantage begins here.
Secure your spot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wicxwellness-summit-2026-tickets-1981616382945?aff=oddtdtcreator
Femtech World is continuing the search for a company to be crowned Startup of the Year.
The award is one of 10 to feature at the third annual Femtech World Awards.
The Startup of the Year Award celebrates an early-stage company making a bold impact in women’s health through innovation, vision and execution.
The winning startup will have demonstrated strong potential to transform care, accessibility, or awareness in women’s health with a scalable solution.
Consideration will be given to innovation, market traction, inclusivity, impact and the ability to address unmet needs.
The award is sponsored by Future Fertility.
The company is transforming fertility care with AI-powered solutions that close critical information gaps along the IVF journey.
Its clinically validated, non-invasive tools analyse oocyte images to predict each egg’s reproductive potential, supporting decision-making across key pathways: VIOLET™ for egg freezing, MAGENTA™ for IVF-ICSI, and ROSE™ for donor programmes and egg banks.
These reports deliver personalised insights into egg quality and ploidy potential, empowering patients and clinicians to make more informed decisions regarding next steps.
Today, Future Fertility’s technology is used in more than 300 clinics across 35+ countries.
Developed with the world’s largest oocyte image dataset linked to reproductive outcomes, Future Fertility’s AI models generate quality scores that not only guide treatment planning and manage expectations, but also serve as objective, actionable KPIs for labs—driving improved outcomes and transparency in fertility care worldwide.
The awards are free to enter, with winners receiving a trophy and an interview with Femtech World.
Find out more about the awards and enter for free here.
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