8 women who have changed research in women's health
.Women's health has historically been under-prioritized in medical research. For many years, medicine was primarily tested on men, and diseases that primarily affect women – such as endometriosis, PCOS and fertility problems – have received far less research funding and attention.
The imbalance in the system and gaps in our knowledge about the female body are described as The Health Gap - the gender gap in knowledge about health and wellness.
But there are women out there who, in their own way, have pushed or are still pushing the system and its structures, and who are persistently trying to close the gap between women and men.
The seven women below have helped to change the understanding of fertility, menstruation and women's health through research, innovation and technology.
The women deserve the attention – they inspire us to continue the fight to spread knowledge about women's health.
Although we have come a long way, there is still a long way to go.
The article was written by journalism student Sarah Majgaard, edited by Cathrine Widunok Wichmand.
Why is research into women's health important?
For many years, women's health was not a priority in medical research - the female body was systematically excluded from research. This was only changed by law in the US in 1993 and in the EU in the 2000s.
This has had major consequences for women, and it has cost lives. This means, among other things , that today, diseases that primarily affect women, such as endometriosis, PCOS and pregnancy-related complications, still experience a large knowledge gap and less understanding and recognition than so many other diseases.
Today, researchers and companies around the world are working to close this knowledge gap through new research into fertility, hormonal health, pregnancy and the menstrual cycle, etc., but it will still take time before the gap is closed.
Amani Meaidi (c. 1990-)
Danish Amani Meaidi is a doctor and researcher and the youngest on the list. Despite this, she has already achieved a lot. In 2022, she won the Ph.d. Cup for her research into the treatment of heavy menstruation
👉 Read our interview with Amani Meaidi here.
Amani Meaidi has a PhD from the University of Copenhagen in Public Health & Epidemiology. Among other things, she has researched side effects of the drug tranexamic acid, which is used to treat heavy menstruation.
👉 What is heavy menstruation? Read the article about menorrhagia and learn a lot more.
Not only that, Amani Meaidi is active in the public debate about women's health and patient safety. She has participated in several research projects, which deal with everything from medical abortion to hormonal contraception. She has, among other things, started the research project Safe Choice, which we interviewed her about in 2023 , which will map the side effects and risks of hormonal contraception.
Amani Meaidi's work is extremely important. Her continuous (voluntary!) research into hormonal contraception sheds light where there was none. Hormonal contraception has historically been under-researched as a medical group, with high costs for the individual patient.
Ida Tin (1979-)
If you've heard the term 'fem-tech', then you've also heard of Danish Ida Tin. She is the founder of the app Clue, the first cycle tracking app on the market, which founded the entire fem-tech industry. Technology that has in various ways put women's health at the center with the aim of improving it, but which has definitely had a harder time raising capital in the early years.
Clue is today one of the world's most used cycle trackers, and the data in the app has also been used in research to advance knowledge about women's health.
As Ida Tin herself has stated, she is neither a doctor, a programmer, nor a scientist. On the contrary, she is an author, project manager, and an entrepreneur with a bone in her nose who has managed to create an app that today helps up to 10 million users a day with insights about their cycle.
👉 Curious about what happens in your body during each phase of your cycle?
With Clue, Ida Tin has started an entire industry that, for better or worse, will contribute to women's health and, not least, make the conversation around it both visible and accessible - for the individual user and in society.
Sara Naseri (year of birth unknown-)
Sara Naseri is also Danish and a qualified physician from Aarhus University and co-founder of Qvin, a company that researches and works to ensure that we start using menstrual blood as an important biomarker and to screen women's health.
Menstrual blood has always been an overlooked source of health data, even though research today shows that the blood contains many of the same biomarkers as a regular blood sample and potentially healing stem cells. In the 20th century, scientists even believed that menstrual blood was downright toxic - full of 'menotoxins'.
👉 Read: The history of society's view of the female body, briefly.
The theory, as crazy and false as it is, has persisted. It also became apparent when Naseri first wanted to test menstrual blood in a laboratory back in 2015, after being affiliated with Stanford University as a researcher in women's diseases. Here she was actually rejected - because the manager thought that menstrual blood was disgusting. Pretty crazy to think about - even in the time we live in now. When you think about how much knowledge is potentially lost.
The innovative Q-pad menstrual pad developed by Qvin collects menstrual blood for analysis. Naseri clearly demonstrates her ambition to challenge the way we traditionally collect health data in order to gain far greater insight than we currently have. Her work enables more personalized and accurate health surveys for women, while also helping to close the gender gap in research.
Based in California, Qvin and Naseri are collaborating with researchers and clinics worldwide to better understand the potential of menstrual blood. In the long term, they hope to improve prevention and faster treatment of women's health conditions.
Henriette Svarre Nielsen (1971-)
One of the strongest contemporary researchers in women's health is Henriette Svarre Nielsen, another Dane we can be proud of.
Henriette Svarre Nielsen is a professor and senior physician in gynecology and obstetrics at Hvidovre Hospital with a focus on women's reproductive health, infertility, immunology and pregnancy loss.
She is a force of nature. She has started several significant and large research projects, including CoPL, Copenhagen Pregnancy Loss, which investigates why pregnancies are lost and seeks more knowledge about causes and possible preventive strategies.
Every year, Danish women lose up to 20,000 pregnancies - and your risk of experiencing a pregnancy loss in your lifetime is up to 25%. In the past, people would say “get over it” and perhaps blame the woman. Through CoPL, we have already learned that pregnancy loss is also caused by a male factor. We have found several treatment methods that can prevent the loss. And if we can prevent even a small percentage of the 20,000 lost pregnancies, then we will also do something about a societal problem; our low birth rate.
In addition, she is the founder and chairwoman of the NGO Maternity Foundation, which works to improve the health of pregnant women and newborns, and reduce maternal and infant mortality in developing countries.
Svarre Nielsen is a pioneer in women's health and a prominent advocate for increased focus on research in women's health. She speaks openly about the healthcare system's lack of knowledge - and what it takes to achieve it - when it comes to the female body.
Through both research and practical efforts, Svarre Nielsen shows how increased focus on women's health can create concrete improvements for women and children - both in Denmark and globally.
Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner (1912-2006)
Did you know that the modern menstrual pad was revolutionized by American inventor Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner?
Kenner patented an elastic 'sanitary belt' in 1965. The belt held the pad in place with elastic straps around the waist and through the legs, allowing women to move freely during their period – long before modern pads and menstrual panties became common.
👉 Read the article about the development of the menstrual product in history here.
Kenner's road to success with her invention was unfortunately long, as companies refused to invest in her product once they found out she was black, so she ended up never making any money from her invention.
After the patent expired, she couldn't afford to buy a new one, so other commercial companies stole her idea and made small changes, which became the basis for the menstrual pad we know today.
However, she continued to invent, and even today, long after her death, she holds the record for the most patents for an African-American woman.
Kenner's patent laid the foundation for modern menstrual products and has had a major impact on women's comfort and daily routines worldwide.
👉 Flow is a female founded, Danish company - see our menstrual panties here.
Virginia Apgar (1909-1974)
In 1952, American Virginia Apgar revolutionized the process of health screening of newborns through the 'Apgar score'.
The Apgar score is a method for quickly assessing an infant's health shortly after birth: Based on five observations made less than a minute after birth, the infant's well-being is measured on a scale of 1-10. If you have given birth, you have also heard about your baby's Apgar score.
The method has since become standard practice in maternity clinics and is still used today.
Apgar spent most of her life in the service of a physician. She was a strong advocate for improving maternal and infant health through learning and sharing knowledge.
In addition to being a practicing physician at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in the United States, she was also active in research, and published 60 scientific articles during her life, including a focus on anesthesia in infants.
Virginia Apgar not only improved newborn survival rates but also birth practices for women. Her work paved the way for female researchers and physicians in obstetrics, neonatology, and pediatrics.
Nielsine Nielsen (1850–1916)
We're ending with another Danish woman. Nielsine Nielsen was not only the very first female student in Denmark, but also the first female academic and doctor. Pretty crazy, right?
However, her road to the top was long and tough, as male doctors and academics repeatedly tried to put an end to her education.
Her application to the Ministry of Church and Education in 1874, to be allowed to study medicine - even though she was a woman - started a social debate, and the following year, in 1875, women were granted access to university education across the country.
In 1885, Nielsen was the first female student to pass her medical exam at the University of Copenhagen.
Nielsen had a great desire to specialize in gynecology, but she had to travel out of the country in her attempt to do so. Unfortunately, she never succeeded in specializing, as opposition from her male colleagues was too big.
Instead, in 1889 she established herself as a general practitioner in Copenhagen.
However, Nielsen did not stop creating change, and she was a great advocate for women's right to equal access to the education system.
Her story reminds us how far we have come in a short time. But it also shows that the road to get there is paved with both structural and systematic challenges.
Mary Putnam Jacobi (1842–1906)
Mary Putnam Jacobi was one of the first doctors to use scientific research to actively challenge medical myths about the female body.
At a time when women's access to education was very difficult, Jacobi took three courses. A pharmacy course and then a medical course in 1864. However, Jacobi was dissatisfied with the level of medical education for women in the United States and therefore traveled to Paris to study further. Here she was accepted to the prestigious École de Médecine at the University of Paris – as one of the first women ever – and she graduated in 1871 with a prize-winning thesis.
Her research into menstruation and women's physiology has been particularly important. In the late 19th century, it was widely believed among doctors that menstruation made women physically and mentally weaker – and therefore unfit for education and work. Jacobi challenged this idea through an extensive research project that collected physiological data on women's health and performance throughout the menstrual cycle.
She concluded in 1876 that there was no scientific basis for women to rest or restrict themselves during menstruation, and this won her a major award from Harvard University.
Jacobi thus used science to create significant confrontations with myths about the female body. Her research became an important argument in the fight for women's access to education, and she simultaneously published more than 100 scientific articles and books. in neurology, pediatrics, and medical education, among other fields. She also established a medical practice and founded organizations that fought for women's access to medical professions and higher education.
Today, her work is considered an early example of what is called gender-aware medical research .
Are you feeling inspired?
We hope so. And here comes a request: Shouldn't we give some of the women a place in our common space?
All of these women faced resistance - difficult access to education, lack of access to laboratories, lack of funding for research. All of them, without exception, have found an incredible amount of courage in the face of circumstances and surroundings - and they have persevered. That courage should be exhibited.
The country's statues have been counted: 43 statues of women with historical significance, while there are a corresponding 484 statues of men. The women? Often undressed. Perhaps you read the story about the undressed women in the winter cold putting on knitwear.
Fortunately, that statistic is about to change, as the Ministry of Culture has allocated the first funds under the Danish Arts Fund to change this picture. Specifically, ten million kroner has been set aside for statues of significant women in history, and if you need inspiration, we think that all eight women on this list, their courage and efforts to close the gender gap, make them more than deserving of being remembered for all time.
FAQ: research into women's health
Why is women's health underresearched?
Historically, clinical studies have primarily included men, which has created a knowledge gap about women's diseases and drug reactions.
Who is researching women's health today?
Fortunately, a broad group of professionals is doing this - from sociologists to doctors. In particular, researchers within gynecology, fertility, and epidemiology are working today to improve understanding of the female body, also in conjunction with insights from, for example, femtech.
Which diseases are referred to as women-related diseases?
Diseases that primarily affect women or are linked to women's reproductive health, such as endometriosis, PCOS and fertility problems.
Why is research into women's health important?
It costs society dearly every year when women are diagnosed too late or incorrectly, their treatment does not work as expected, or the side effects of treatment are too great. It costs society dearly through, among other things, longer illness and lost workforce.
Better research supported by more funding can lead to earlier diagnosis, better treatments, and greater understanding of diseases that affect women's health and quality of life.
Sources:
“HEALTH FROM A GENDER PERSPECTIVE”, KVINFO ( source )
“From health gap to economic gain”, Danish Industry ( source )
“Virginia Apgar”, McKelvie, L., ( source )
“Danish Ida Tin has raised 220 million for her German startup”, Kjær, S. ( source )
“Your phone as contraception? It can be done. Danish Ida Tin has created a potential world sensation” Arrouas, M. ( source )
“Nielsine Nielsen, 1850-1916”, Olsen, PO ( source )
“She studies the safety of medical abortion and contraception”, Lundbeck Foundation ( source ) “'It's a very unique biological specimen': What menstrual blood can reveal about your health” Ong, S., BBC ( source )
“Research project Safe Choice”, Capital Region of Denmark ( source)
“30-year-old Sara has invented a menstrual pad that can detect cancer. The head of the laboratory thought it was tacky”, Schelde, N. ( source )
"Sara Naseri: Unleashing the Potential of Menstrual Blood", Morgan, K. ( source )
“She must look them in the eye and tell them that there is no longer life in the womb. And answer a heartbreaking question”, Qvist, S. ( source )
“Chief Physician Henriette Svarre Nielsen: This is the key to preventing and alleviating women's diseases”, Hilton, B. ( source )
“Mary Beatrice Kenner: The Inventor Who Changed Women's Lives”, Stamper, P. ( source )
