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10 types of menopause innovation we want to see at the awards
One of the questions we hear most often from founders, clinicians, and product teams considering an entry to the Femtech World Awards is some version of: does what we do actually count?
The short answer is: probably yes. The longer answer is what this blog is for.
Menopause innovation is not a single category. It is a broad, fast-growing field that spans technology, clinical care, workplace culture, research and consumer health.
If your work touches the lives of people going through perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause in any meaningful way, we want to hear from you.
Here are ten types of menopause innovation that are firmly within scope for this year’s awards.
1. Digital Health Platforms and Apps
From symptom trackers and personalised hormone cycle tools to AI-powered coaching apps and telehealth platforms, digital health is one of the most active spaces in menopause innovation right now.
If you have built a platform that helps people understand, manage, or navigate their menopause journey, this category is for you.
We are particularly interested in tools that go beyond generic content and offer genuinely personalised, evidence-informed support.
2. Diagnostics and Testing
Hormonal testing, at-home diagnostics, wearables that track physiological markers, and clinical tools that support earlier or more accurate diagnosis all fall within this space.
For too long, people have been dismissed or misdiagnosed because the tools simply were not sensitive or accessible enough.
Innovations that close this gap are exactly the kind of work this award was created to celebrate.
3. Therapeutics and Treatment Innovation
This includes both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical approaches.
New formulations of hormone replacement therapy, novel delivery mechanisms, botanical or nutraceutical products with a strong evidence base, and non-hormonal treatments for specific symptoms such as vasomotor changes or genitourinary conditions are all eligible.
If you are developing or have developed something that genuinely works and can demonstrate that, we want to know about it.
4. Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
The psychological impact of menopause is still vastly under-discussed.
Anxiety, depression, cognitive changes, mood disruption, and loss of identity are experienced by a significant proportion of people going through this transition, yet the support available is often fragmented or absent altogether.
Products, programmes, and platforms that specifically address the mental health dimension of menopause are very much welcome here.
5. Workplace Solutions
Menopause is a workplace issue.
Symptoms can significantly affect concentration, confidence, and performance, and without the right support, many people reduce their hours, pass up promotions, or leave the workforce entirely.
Innovations in this space include employer-facing platforms, HR tools, training programmes, policy frameworks, and occupational health solutions that help organisations create genuinely supportive environments.
If you are working at the intersection of menopause and work, do not underestimate the value of what you are doing.
6. Sleep and Physical Symptom Management
Sleep disruption, hot flushes, joint pain, fatigue and weight changes are among the most commonly reported menopause symptoms, and the market for products addressing them directly is growing rapidly.
Whether you have developed a temperature-regulating wearable, a sleep support programme, a physiotherapy-informed exercise platform, or a product that addresses the physical experience of menopause in a new way, this is your category.
7. Sexual Health and Intimate Wellbeing
Genitourinary syndrome of menopause, changes to libido, vaginal dryness, and the broader impact of menopause on intimacy and relationships remain taboo subjects even within healthcare.
Innovators working to address these issues, whether through clinical products, consumer health solutions, education platforms, or therapeutic tools, are doing important work that deserves recognition.
We actively encourage entries in this space.
8. Research, Data, and Clinical Evidence
The evidence base for menopause care has historically been thin, and the people building it matter enormously.
Academic institutions, research organisations, and companies investing in clinical trials or real-world evidence generation are eligible for this award.
If your work is helping to shift what we know about menopause, how we understand its long-term effects, or how we evaluate interventions, that is innovation in the truest sense.
9. Education, Awareness, and Community
Changing the conversation around menopause is part of the innovation ecosystem.
Platforms, content brands, community spaces, and campaigns that are genuinely shifting awareness, reducing stigma, or building knowledge among patients, clinicians, or the wider public are eligible.
We are particularly interested in work that reaches underserved communities or addresses the significant disparities in menopause care across different demographics and ethnicities.
10. Integrated and Holistic Care Models
Some of the most exciting menopause innovation does not fit neatly into a single box.
Integrated care models that bring together clinical, lifestyle, and psychological support, multidisciplinary clinic models, whole-health platforms, and care pathways designed around the full experience of menopause rather than individual symptoms are exactly the kind of ambitious, systemic thinking this award is here to amplify.
Still Not Sure? Enter Anyway.
If you have read through this list and you are still asking yourself whether your work qualifies, the answer is almost certainly yes.
Our judges understand the full breadth of this field. They are not looking for perfection.
They are looking for genuine impact, clear thinking, and the ambition to do better for the millions of people whose menopause experience has, for too long, been an afterthought.
Find out more about the Femtech World Awards and enter for free here.
Simultaneous exposure to toxic chemicals and climate-related heat may be worsening fertility harms across humans and wildlife, research suggests.
The review of scientific literature looks at how endocrine-disrupting chemicals, often found in plastic, together with climate-related effects such as heat stress, are each linked to lower fertility and fecundity, meaning the ability to reproduce, across species including humans, wildlife and invertebrates.
Though the reproductive harms of each issue in isolation are well studied, there is little research on what happens when living organisms are exposed to both.
“Together, the two issues are likely to pose a greater threat to fertility, and the additive effect is “alarming”, said Susanne Brander, a study lead author and courtesy faculty at Oregon State University.
“You’re not just getting exposed to one, but two, stressors at the same time that both may affect your fertility, and in turn the overall impact is going to be a bit worse,” Brander said.
The paper looked at 177 studies.
Shanna Swan, a co-author on the new paper, co-produced a 2017 study that found sperm levels among men in western countries had fallen by more than 50 per cent over four decades. Other research has suggested human fertility has been declining at a similar rate.
The University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has previously said the world was approaching a “low-fertility future”, with more than three quarters of countries below replacement rate by 2050.
The new paper’s authors focused on the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and substances, including microplastics, bisphenol, phthalates and PFAS.
These are thought to cause a range of serious reproductive problems, disrupt hormones and be a potential driver of falling fertility.
Brander said the harms linked to these chemicals are often similar across organisms, from invertebrates to humans.
Phthalates, for example, have been linked to altered sperm shape in invertebrates, spermatogenesis in rodents, meaning sperm production, and reduced sperm counts in humans.
PFAS are also thought to affect sperm quality, and both have been linked to hormone disruption.
The chemicals are widespread in consumer goods, so people are often regularly exposed.
Meanwhile, previous research has shown how rising temperatures, lower oxygen levels and heat stress, among other effects linked to climate change, may also worsen infertility.
Heat stress has been found to affect human hormones, and is linked to spermatogenesis in rodents and bulls.
Research shows temperature also plays a role in sex determination in fish, reptiles and amphibians.
The species has evolved to choose which sex it produces in part based on temperature, and the heating planet can “push it too far in one direction or the other, which overrides that evolutionary benefit”, Brander said.
Similarly, many endocrine disruptors may alter environmental sex determination.
The study set out some of the overlapping effects of chemical exposure and climate change across taxonomic groups, from invertebrates to humans.
In birds, for example, exposure to increased temperature, PFAS, organochlorines and pyrethroids may each individually cause abnormal sperm, increased fledgling mortality, abnormal testes and population decline.
“What happens if they’re exposed to more than one of those stressors at the same time? There has been little exploration of that question.
“Even if there have not been a lot of studies looking at these simultaneously, if you have two different factors that both cause the same adverse effect, then there’s a likelihood that they are going to be additive,” Brander said.
Katie Pelch, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council nonprofit, who was not part of the study, said the authors had reviewed high-quality science.
She said she wanted to see more examples of the overlap in impacts, but agreed with the overall premise.
“It is likely [multiple stressors] would have an additive effect, at very least, even if they have different mechanisms of harm,” Pelch added.
The solution to the systemic problems would involve tackling climate change and reducing the use of toxic chemicals.
The study cites the global reduction in the use of DDT and PCBs achieved under the Stockholm Convention as an example of an effective measure, but Brander said much more is needed.
“There is enough evidence in both areas to act to reduce our impact on the planet,” she said.
Home blood pressure checks after hypertensive pregnancy could cut the risk of heart attack, stroke and potentially early death, research suggests.
Women who regularly monitored their blood pressure in the weeks after giving birth, and had doctors tailor their medication if needed, had better functioning arteries nine months later than those who received routine care.
When the medication was adjusted to account for blood pressure changes, the women ended up with less stiff arteries, an effect researchers estimated could reduce the future risk of heart attack or stroke by 10 per cent.
Paul Leeson, professor of cardiovascular medicine who led the study, said the findings suggested that the weeks after birth provided a “powerful and often overlooked opportunity” to protect women’s future health.
“By simply monitoring blood pressure at home, new mothers with hypertensive pregnancies can protect their bodies from future damage,” he said.
High blood pressure, in the form of gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia, where there are signs of organ damage, affects 5 to 10 per cent of pregnant women.
The condition can damage the mother’s organs and endanger the baby’s life.
Beyond the immediate threat to mother and baby, hypertension in pregnancy can raise the risk of long-term problems, with women three times more likely to develop high blood pressure and twice as likely to have heart disease later in life.
The Oxford team recruited 220 women who developed hypertension in pregnancy. All were on blood pressure medication but were due to reduce their dosage and eventually stop taking the drugs.
In the study, 108 women had standard care in which their medication was reduced based on a few blood pressure checks in the eight weeks after giving birth.
The remaining 112 women used a monitor to check their blood pressure at home each day.
They entered the readings into an app shared with doctors who, if needed, changed their medication day to day, with the aim of giving them better control of their blood pressure.
The new approach led to much better control of the women’s blood pressure, and in tests six to nine months later the women had less stiff arteries.
Stiff arteries are less effective at expanding and contracting, which can drive high blood pressure and ultimately the formation of clots that can block blood vessels and cause heart attacks and strokes.
Trials are now under way to find effective ways of rolling out blood pressure monitoring to women after hypertensive pregnancies. One option is for specialist NHS clinics to deliver the care.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, clinical director at the British Heart Foundation, which funded the work, said the results highlighted a crucial window after birth when paying close attention to blood pressure could help protect women’s heart health for years to come.
“We now look forward to seeing results from larger studies with longer follow-up to see how this might save women’s lives,” she said.
Weight loss jabs are being studied to see if they could help women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
The condition, which affects up to one in ten women, changes how the ovaries work and is linked to infertility and weight gain.
Dr Shagaf Bakour has won a £60,000 NHS research grant through Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust to look at whether drugs such as Mounjaro and Ozempic might help.
“The research could lead to earlier support, better long-term health, and more joined-up care for a condition that affects many women but is still often overlooked,” she said.
Women with PCOS have higher levels of male hormones and can suffer from irregular periods and symptoms such as excess body or facial hair, the NHS said.
Associated weight gain can also lead to an increased risk of diabetes and heart problems.
Bakour, a gynaecologist and director of medical education at Aston Medical School, will work with a team to evaluate the effect of the weight loss medicines on metabolic and reproductive outcomes.
The drugs mimic a hormone called GLP-1, which suppresses appetite.
Bakour, alongside Dr Hoda Harb, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the NHS trust, will review existing evidence on their use and assess how they help patients with PCOS.
“The aim is to give women with PCOS evidence-informed, clearer treatment options and more consistent care,” she said.
“The project hopes to show whether these medicines can improve both general health and fertility health, while also helping local services develop clearer care pathways.
Prof Elizabeth Hughes, director of research and development at the NHS trust, said the effects of PCOS, including infertility, were “very emotive subjects”.
“We should be doing all we can within research and development to advance healthcare for women and to better help future generations with this condition,” she added.
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