News
Clue spotlights seven women’s health journeys in new campaign
“She Had No Clue, Until She Did.” draws on real member experiences, from PMDD and painful periods to fertility and mental health.
Cycle-tracking app Clue has launched a new campaign, “She Had No Clue, Until She Did.”, built around the experiences of seven of its members who found clarity about their health after years of symptoms, questions and hormonal uncertainty.
The campaign captures the moment each woman finally connected the dots, whether that was a PCOS diagnosis that made sense at last, the realisation that anxiety followed a pattern, or a conception journey that suddenly felt less overwhelming. The stories span PMDD, painful periods, fertility, mental health and cycle-related wellbeing.
According to Clue, that moment of clarity often arrives later than it should, with symptoms dismissed, concerns minimised and hormonal health poorly understood. Too many women, the brand says, leave appointments with unmet needs, made to believe their pain was in their heads when they were simply missing the proof.
For some members, tracking their data led to a diagnosis. For others, spotting patterns brought reassurance, confidence, or the language to explain something they had lived with for decades. Clue frames the campaign as part of a broader shift in women’s health, with more women paying attention to patterns, asking questions and seeking to understand their own hormonal picture.
“The most meaningful stories are often the ones that people recognise in themselves,” said Louise Troen, chief marketing officer at Clue. “What struck us throughout this campaign was not how different these women’s experiences were, but how familiar they felt. The uncertainty, the self-doubt, the sense that something wasn’t quite right, and then the moment when everything finally clicked into place.
“The more time we spent listening, the more obvious it became that some of the most powerful stories were already within our community. Personal stories, but not isolated ones. Experiences that felt unique to the women sharing them, yet instantly recognisable to so many others. This is what we believe makes Clue so unique as a brand, and by championing some of our real, raw and relatable stories, we hope even more women can feel less alone.”
Meet the members
Faye, 36 PMDD, ADHD and hormones Faye began tracking her cycle two years ago and received a PMDD diagnosis three months ago. By the time her doctor asked her to track her symptoms, she already had the information ready. Tracking supported her diagnosis and also revealed a connection between her ADHD symptoms and different phases of her cycle, helping her understand patterns she had previously put down to stress and overwhelm.
Deirdre, 35 PMDD and emotional wellbeing For years, Deirdre noticed recurring anxiety, brain fog and emotional overwhelm in the lead-up to her period, but struggled to understand why. After her doctor suggested PMDD, tracking helped reveal a clear pattern. Understanding the role her hormones were playing transformed how she approached her mental wellbeing, helping her plan ahead, show herself more compassion and navigate difficult stretches.
Calypso, 32 Adenomyosis, fertility and diagnosis Living with painful, heavy periods for much of her adult life, Calypso used tracking to document symptoms that were often dismissed. Over time, that evidence helped support diagnoses for adenomyosis and an autoimmune condition, with investigations for endometriosis ongoing. More recently, tracking also played a part in helping her and her wife navigate fertility treatment and pregnancy planning.
Brianna, 32 PCOS and self-advocacy After experiencing irregular periods from a young age, Brianna struggled to find information that reflected their reality. Tracking helped build a clearer picture of their health, ultimately supporting a PCOS diagnosis and providing evidence to bring into healthcare conversations. They continue to track as a way of monitoring changes and advocating for themselves when something doesn’t feel right.
Giulia, 35 Fertility and conception After 15 years on hormonal contraception, Giulia began tracking her cycle as she prepared to start trying for a baby. What began as a practical tool quickly became a deeper education in her own reproductive health. The insights she gained aligned closely with guidance from her gynaecologist, helping her approach conception with confidence and supporting her journey to pregnancy.
Eva, 32 Self-confidence and body literacy For Eva, tracking was the start of a broader journey towards understanding and trusting her body. After years of feeling dismissed by healthcare professionals and offered one-size-fits-all solutions, she began paying closer attention to her own patterns. The result was a stronger sense of agency, confidence and connection to her health.
Paula, 29 Fitness, PMS and performance A Clue member for more than a decade, Paula sees her cycle as a valuable source of information rather than a monthly inconvenience. Tracking has helped her understand changes in energy, recovery, PMS and performance, while also giving her evidence to advocate for herself when symptoms became more severe. What began as period tracking evolved into a deeper understanding of her overall wellbeing.
Rollout
“She Had No Clue, Until She Did.” rolls out across Clue’s channels from late June through a series of films, interviews and storytelling content exploring the moments women finally connected the dots. Member interviews and imagery are available on request, alongside expert insight from Clue chief executive Rhiannon White, chief marketing officer Louise Troen, and chief medical officer and OB/GYN Dr Charis Chambers.
Creative visuals were produced by agency The Coolective.
Calla Lily Clinical Care has joined a US$50m antibiotics programme to assess vaginal delivery of UTI treatments through its Callavid platform.
The women’s health medical technology company will evaluate whether antibiotics can be delivered directly through the vaginal wall to treat urinary tract infections (UTIs).
The project will use Callavid, the company’s intravaginal drug delivery platform, aiming to deliver treatment to the site of infection while limiting systemic exposure.
Calla Lily has been selected for Wellcome Leap’s Focused Antibiotics programme, which is exploring ways to reformulate existing antibiotics so they reach infections while sparing the gut microbiome without loss of efficacy.
Dr Serena de Gelidi, Principal Investigator and R&D Manager, Calla Lily Clinical Care
The programme is backed by US$50m and aims to investigate technologies that could reduce the unintended effects of antibiotic treatment.
UTIs are among the most common bacterial infections in women. According to the source material, women are prescribed almost 40 per cent more antibiotics than men between the ages of 16 and 54.
Calla Lily will assess whether Callavid can deliver antibiotics through the vaginal wall while bypassing gastrointestinal transit and first-pass metabolism.
The company expects the approach could keep systemic exposure below 5 per cent.
There is currently no first-line UTI antibiotic available in a mass-manufactured vaginal formulation, according to Calla Lily.
The company said a successful project could contribute to the wider programme’s goal of reducing antibiotic-driven resistant infections by up to 40 per cent a year.
Callavid has a patented, leak-free, tampon-like design intended to deliver medicines and hormones through the vagina.
The platform is already being assessed in the NIHR-funded FREEDOM trial, which is studying vaginal progesterone delivery using Callavid.
That study began in April 2026 and is examining safety, user acceptability and drug absorption. According to the company, it has passed its safety stopping rule and 90 per cent of patients have completed their first round of dosing.
Dr Lara Zibners, co-founder and chair of Calla Lily Clinical Care, said: “Women are disproportionately impacted by urinary tract infections, yet the consequences of that repeated systemic exposure have been largely overlooked. Organisations such as Wellcome Leap play a vital role in tackling major healthcare challenges through bold innovation. We are honoured to be part of the Focused Antibiotics programme and to explore the potential of Callavid in a foundational antibiotic application, demonstrating how women’s health innovations can deliver benefits far beyond fertility and reproductive care.
Thang Vo-Ta, co-founder and chief executive of Calla Lily Clinical Care, said: “Being selected by Wellcome Leap, one of the world’s most ambitious health innovation funders, is a significant validation of what we are building at Calla Lily Clinical Care. Our ambition has always been for Callavid to become the defining platform for intravaginal drug delivery across a wide range of indications. The Focused Antibiotics programme gives us the ideal partner to pursue one of the most consequential of those indications: treating the world’s most common bacterial infection in women while helping to address a global resistance crisis that, left unchecked, could claim eight million lives annually by 2050. This marks a pivotal moment in demonstrating that when you solve for women, you solve for everyone.”
The project will be led by Dr Serena de Gelidi, principal investigator and R&D manager at Calla Lily Clinical Care.
She will be supported by Professor Andrew Lewis, principal scientist at the company and an international authority on drug-eluting systems, with 58 patents and more than 260 peer-reviewed publications.
An AI tool has identified microscopic breast cancer patterns that could help medical professionals better forecast disease progression.
The tool, called CenSegNet, was developed to analyse hundreds of thousands of cells in tumour samples and detect abnormalities in structures known as centrosomes.
Centrosomes are small structures inside cells that ensure DNA is divided equally during cell replication. Researchers say abnormalities in these structures have been considered a hallmark of cancer for more than a century.
In cancerous tissue, centrosomes can replicate excessively, driving the progression of the disease.
Scientists at the University of Southampton used the system to study tissue from 127 breast cancer patients being treated at University Hospital Southampton.
More than 330,000 centrosomes were analysed, revealing two distinct abnormalities that had previously been considered part of the same process.
One involved cells developing too many centrosomes, while the other involved centrosomes becoming abnormally enlarged.
Researchers found the two defects behaved independently and could occur in different areas of the same tumour.
Dr Salah Elias, of the University of Southampton’s school of biological sciences and institute for life sciences, said: “For more than a century, centrosome abnormalities have been recognised as a hallmark of cancer, but studying them in patient tissues has been extremely challenging.
“CenSegNet allows us to analyse these defects at single-cell resolution across entire tumours and uncover patterns that were previously impossible to see.
“Rather than viewing centrosome abnormalities as a single phenomenon, our study shows that they have distinct biological states with different spatial distributions and clinical associations.”
The platform also helped uncover a link between different centrosome abnormalities and features of cancer.
Tumours with high levels of enlarged centrosomes were more aggressive, while patients whose cells had lower levels had a better chance of survival.
Dr Elias said: “Specific combinations of defects may influence how a tumour grows, invades surrounding tissues and responds to treatment.
This opens the door to developing new biomarkers and, ultimately, more personalised treatment strategies.”
Researchers hope AI could eventually be used to track disease by analysing the behaviour of cell structures.
The team also plans to combine CenSegNet with more data to explore whether it could help guide treatment decisions.
Chelsea FC Women is to launch a fertility fund giving players access to assessments, treatments, counselling and workshops.
The initiative is part of a new partnership with London fertility clinic Fertility Plus, which has been named the club’s official fertility partner.
Chelsea said the fund will be available to every player in its women’s team, with support tailored to individual needs.
Giulia Mazzia, commercial director for Chelsea FC Women, said: “At Chelsea FC Women we are never done pushing for progress for our players and our community.
“This first-of-its-kind partnership with Fertility Plus will open up the conversation about fertility, help to raise awareness for our incredible fanbase and beyond, and give practical support to our players off the field as well as on it.”
Support through Fertility Plus will include fertility assessments and treatments, as well as counselling and workshops.
The partnership will also provide evidence-based information about reproductive health and address misconceptions around fertility.
Chelsea cited previous research on fertility knowledge which found that 41 per cent of respondents actively trying to conceive did not know when their fertile window was.
The club and Fertility Plus plan to provide educational content, resources comparing fertility myths with medical evidence and insights from Chelsea FC Women ambassadors.
Dr Amit Shah and Dr Anil Gudi, co-founders of Fertility Plus, said: “Elite sport asks a lot of women during the very years when fertility matters most, yet it’s a conversation the game has rarely had.
“Partnering with Chelsea FC Women allows us to help change that by giving players, staff and supporters access to trusted fertility expertise and compassionate, consultant-led care.
“We’re proud to work alongside a club that’s setting a new standard for supporting women’s health, both on and off the pitch.
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