Publications
My writing has appeared in publications including Business Insider, Fast Company, MedCity News, and TechCrunch. Since May 2023, I've also been a contributing writer for Forbes, publishing bimonthly articles on women's health and women's health-adjacent topics.
I've published articles both under my byline and as a ghostwriter.
The November Election and Women's Health with Nurx's Caroline Hofmann
May 14, 2024: May 12-18 is National Women's Health Week: a week dedicated to highlighting women's health issues and priorities. November 5, however, is Election Day: a chance to put that attention and awareness into action.
In this Forbes article, Nurx's Chief Business Officer, Caroline Hofmann, shares her thoughts on women's health for National Women's Health Week and ahead of the election. She highlights what issues she thinks are the most major and what women can do to protect, support, and improve their health for this year's National Women's Health Week, for Election Day, and beyond.
A Forbes article
The Model Minority Is Not A Model Of Health - But Is Often Seen as One
April 18, 2024: Due to their level of education to their median income and maybe even to their relatively low obesity and cancer rates, Asian Americans are often perceived as the "model minority".
But Asian Americans - as an aggregate as well as the various subgroups making up this population - are not a model of health. In fact, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease all affect Asian Americans differently from their Black, Hispanic, or white peers. The "model minority" label, as a result, not only perpetuates stereotypes but also prevents Asian-Americans from receiving relevant race- and ethnicity-specific research on and resources for their healthcare.
During National Minority Health Month in April and ahead of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, this article looks at the health challenges facing Asian Americans.
A Forbes article
Cities Are Designed for Men's Convenience - Not Women's Health
April 2, 2024: "When planners fail to account for gender, public spaces become male spaces by default" so says Caroline Criado Perez who tracks various gender biases and gender data gaps in her book: Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. This article builds on that idea: that cities are designed for and by men. It explores city infrastructure including parks, snowplowing schedules, public transportation, while also highlighting cities around the world that are recognizing and trying to mitigate this male dominance.
A Forbes article
A Novel Drug, A Protest, And The Fight To Prevent Breast Cancer Deaths
March 19, 2024: On December 6, 1994, the worlds of science and activism collided at the South San Francisco headquarters of Genentech. At the time, Genentech had discovered a new target for cancer therapy and was developing a drug in response. Outside the lab, however, women diagnosed with HER2+ breast cancer weren't expected to live three to five years after their diagnosis. Taking inspiration from AIDS activist groups from the decade prior, they protested outside of Genentech's headquarters, wanting the company's novel drug, as risky and as limited as it still was, to be as accessible as possible.
This article tracks the journey of that drug, now known as Herceptin: from Genentech's development and breast cancer groups' protests to compassion use and the overarching fight to prevent future breast cancer deaths.
A Forbes article
We Shouldn't Dismiss the Diagnostic Power of Menstrual Blood. Period.
March 4, 2024: 1.8 billion people around the world menstruate every month. But only recently have researchers and entrepreneurs looked into using menstrual fluid as a potential diagnostic.
Menstrual fluid contains not only blood but also cervical mucus, endometrial tissue, a composition of immune cells, nucleic acids, and 1061 proteins, 385 of which are unique to it. Medical professionals may thus be able to use menstrual blood instead of circulating blood - which can require inconvenient lab visits and fear-inducing needles - to diagnose conditions such as high blood sugar. They also can use menstrual blood as a potential diagnosis for conditions in which circulating blood is inadequate, like for HPV and endometriosis.
A Forbes article
For Women With Cardiovascular Disease, the Prognosis is Disheartening
February 15, 2024: Although cardiovascular disease is the biggest cause of death in women, killing one in three, the prognosis for women isn't promising.
For one example, women's heart attack symptoms tend to present differently from men's. Since they don't always have the same chest pain that has become synonymous with a heart attack, their symptoms are often dismissed or misdiagnosed. In fact, women who complained of symptoms consistent with heart disease are twice as likely to be a diagnosed with a mental illness than men who complained of identical symptoms.
The overall result is that women do not get the diagnosis, care, or attention they need - leaving their prognosis to be absolutely disheartening.
A Forbes article
"Every Mother and Every Baby": How PeriGen Improves Perinatal Outcomes
February 1, 2024: The United States has the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries, but over 80% of maternal deaths - and over 50% of fetal deaths - are preventable.
PeriGen's three technologies help medical professionals recognize early warning signs for pregnant mothers so medical professionals can see, at a glance, what women might need their attention immediately, act quickly, and make assessments objectively.
Whether through a wearable pregnancy monitoring device, on a hospital floor, or through servers located 9,000 miles away from a healthcare clinic, the information provided by PeriGen can help improve outcomes, including mortality rates, for "every mother and every baby".
A Forbes article
2024 Could Be Women's Health's Long-Awaited, Much-Needed Standout Year
January 15, 2024: Women's health is a unicorn in the venture capital space; it is a sector worth over $1,000,000,000. Improvements in women's health, meanwhile, may seem like a different type of unicorn: something that is inspiring but ultimately non-existent.
However, if 2023 trends hold, women's health might be seeing the start of a transformation. This article analyzes trends in funding, as well as recent attention around women's health from the federal government, the number of billion-dollar-plus women's health companies, and the successes of female leaders in women's health. It concludes that improvements in women's health are happening and that 2024 might be the year that springboards women's health from perceived niche to an essential healthcare sector.
A Forbes article
Nuvo Improves Pregnancy Care - Even For Women Living Through a War
January 9, 2024: When resources in the largest hospital in Israel had to be freed up for those injured during the war, various patients were sent elsewhere - or, in the case of high-risk pregnant women, sent home. But they were monitored using Nuvo Cares' INVU solution, which allows healthcare providers to monitor and engage with expectant mothers, even when those women are outside hospital walls.
This article covers the story behind Nuvo and how it can change maternal care and monitoring, not just for the women living through a war in Israel - but for all women who are expecting a baby.
A Forbes article
Why We Should Keep Using Terms like "Female Founder" and "Female CEO"
December 30, 2023: As the number of female CEOs and founders has grown so has the argument about whether to specify their gender.
This article argues that we should keep using the term "female" to describe those leaders. Noting a leader as "female" means recognizing that the idiosyncratic gender-biased challenges that she has to face, acknowledging that she doesn't have an equal playing field, and realizing, as a result, that her successes mean that she has overcome the challenges of not just being a leader but of being a woman.
A Forbes article
This Startup Can Improve Cancer Screenngs, Starting with Mammograms
December 19, 2023: 50% of women have dense or extremely dense breasts - that is, a higher proportion of their breasts are made up of glandular tissue and fibrous tissue rather than fatty tissue. And yet, mammograms miss 50% of breast cancers in these women.
Deeplook Medical, a healthcare startup, is helping to improve cancer screenings, starting with mammograms. Its visualization tool can find areas of concern, segment and measure them, and color-code them to improve cancer detection and inform the healthcare decisions of patients and providers.
This article covers what Deeplook Medical's visualization tool and why its needed, especially for women with dense or extremely dense breasts.
A Forbes article
Studies Show That Nonsmoking Women Are Getting Lung Cancer But Going Unscreened
November 27, 2023: Although cigarette smoking remains the most common cause of lung cancer, studies have shown that non-smoking women are developing cancer at increasing rates - even more so than non-smoking men.
And yet, lung cancer screening guidelines still apply only to women who are 50 years older and who are or have been smokers. This discrepancy between those who are getting lung cancer and those who are getting screened for it means that non-smoking women are not only vulnerable to lung cancer but are also overlooked as a population at risk.
A Forbes article
Infertility Is Not Only A Woman's Issue - Or Only A Woman's Fault
November 7, 2023: The reason for infertility is usually equally split among partners in a heterosexual couple - so why are women still taking the blame and the burden of care?
This article explains why women have taken the emotional, mental, societal, and physical pressures of infertility, even when they're not to blame. It also covers the biotech company, Celmatix, that is developing treatments to help women and men with fertility - and that, in the process, is overcoming the precedent that infertility is a woman's issue - and a woman's fault.
A Forbes article
Women Handle 75%+ of All Unpaid Labor. Their Health Pays The Price.
October 31, 2023: On Tuesday, October 24, 2023, Icelandic women and non-binary people held the largest single-day women's strike since 1975. The goals of the strike were to bring awareness to the gender pay gap and to violence against women - but it also highlighted the value of women's work, both paid and unpaid.
Around the world, girls and women are responsible for more than 75% of all unpaid labor, including caring for others, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, running errands and more. However, though societies depend on healthy women for this labor, the labor itself is making women unhealthy - emotionally, mentally, and physically - in the process.
A Forbes article
"The Damsels Are Depressed": What To Know and What To Do About Women and Depression
October 17, 2023: A Gallup poll in May 2023 found that depression rates are rising - especially in women. 36.7% of women say they've been diagnosed with depression at some point, 23.8% of women report being depressed/being treated for depression, and women's rate of depression has risen nearly twice as fast as men's.
Despite the rising rates, individuals - regardless of sex or gender- are also increasingly talking about mental health and/or seeking treatment - and promising research could help women with depression in the first place.
This article explores reasons what to know about women with depression, what to do about women with depression, and why the gender gap might exist in the first place.
A Forbes article
It's World Contraception Day - and Time to Improve Birth Control. Contraline and Twentyeight Health Share More
September 26, 2023: September 26 is World Contraception Day: a day that, since 2007, aims to increase young people's awareness of contraception options and make informed reproductive and sexual health-related choices.
However, the current birth control options available - for men and women alike - are lacking. One survey found that 91% of women thought that no current birth control option meet their three biggest requirements: affordability, effectiveness, and lack of side effects.
This year's World Contraception Day, as a result, is a time to realize why and how society needs to improve its birth control options - and to celebrate the companies, like Contraline and Twentyeight Health, doing exactly that.
A Forbes article
Fasten Your Seatbelts: A Female Car Crash Test Dummy Represents the Average Women for the First Time in 60+ Years
September 12, 2023: An unexpected field in which women haven't been represented proportionately? Car crash testing. Car crash test regimes currently require only male-representing dummies. In fact, the only female dummies even available were so small that they could accurately represent a 12- to 13-year-old child.
The results have been car crash safety features that have primarily benefitted male drivers and passengers, not women.
The creation of a new female dummy by a group of Swedish researchers, however, might mark a pivotal moment in representing women accurately - and ensuring that they're safe as both drivers and passengers.
This article was also a Forbes Editors' Pick.
A Forbes article
Stuck in the 70s: Why the "Reference Man" Needs to Be Replaced as the Standard
August 30, 2023: When it was first created in the 1975, the Reference Man was a landmark composition: the first serious attempt to represent detailed body composition data. It also meant to represent men and women alike.
The Reference Man is still used today in everything from teaching anatomy classes to sizing organs for transplants.
However, that same once-innovative reference is now out of date. This article argues for the replacement of the Reference Man with new models that accurately represent today's men and women and the physiological differences that exist between the two.
A Forbes article
Artificial Intelligence and Women's Health: the Pros, the Cons, and the Guardrails Needed to Improve Care
August 1, 2023: From identifying pre-cancerous changes to identifying at-risk pregnant women, artificial intelligence has been part of healthcare since the 1970s and into today. However, the lack of scientific information about women's health specifically - as well as the societal biases around women and women's health - can not only limit AI's effectiveness as a healthcare tool but also perpetuate misinformation.
This article reviews the pros and cons of using AI in healthcare. It also highlights Wellen, a women's health startup focused first on osteoporosis, as a case study of a company that has recognized the challenges of relying on AI and has implemented its own guardrails so that its use of artificial intelligence only helps - not harms - users.
A Forbes article
Women's Health Ads Are Still Being Censored; The Center for Intimacy Justice Takes Action with FTC Complaint
July 17, 2023: This article was published the very same day that the Center for Intimacy Justice (CIJ), a non-profit social organization, announced that it had filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission against the tech giant, Meta.
The CIJ is alleging that Meta is engaging in unfair and deceptive trade practices by not allowing healthcare ads, especially for sexual health and wellness products, aimed at women and people of diverse genders, to run. In contrast, ads for men's health issues are allowed to run.
This article also includes interviews from women's health companies whose ads have - and continue to be - censored by Meta.
A Forbes article
26 Million New Cases, Three Dimensions, and One New Technology: How Bioprinting Can Improve Cancer Treatments
July 11, 2023: Passed at the end of 2022, the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 authorized the use of alternative testing models to replace animal testing: the standard for almost 85 years.
One of those alternative testing models? Bioprinting.
This article covers this novel 3D printing technology, its advantages over current standards of care, and its potential ability to improve cancer treatments for current cancer patients - and the 26 million new cancer patients expected by 2030.
A Forbes article
$10 Trillion and Counting: Three Best Practices for Female GPs Looking to Capitalize on the Growing Power of Female LPs
June 27, 2023: Today, American women control more than $10 trillion in assets - but they're still underrepresented and underfunded as asset managers, GPs, and founders.
How can female GPs take advantage of the growing power of women?
Sophia Platt and Emna Ghariani- co-founders of Bridge Funding Global, which connects female GPs with investors - share their three best practices to help break the historic cycle of only men funding only men.
A Forbes article
June 10, 1993: 10 Facts About the NIH Revitalization Act As It Turns 30
June 6, 2023: June 10, 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of the NIH Revitalization Act, which allowed women and minorities to participate in clinical trials. In honor of the June 10 passage of the Revitalization Act, this article covers 10 facts about it, including its history, legacy, triumphs, and challenges that it still faces today.
A Forbes article
CDK Inhibitors: Why Women - and Men - Should Know About This 'New Era' of Cancer Treatment
May 30, 2023: 40% of U.S adults will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives - and, while cancer has a cultural presence, such as the pink breast cancer ribbons, cancer literacy doesn't always follow. Learning about what cancer treatments are available - including novel ones like CDK inhibitors - and how they work can keep cancer patients and their families from being overwhelmed and can allow them to make the most informed choices for their healthcare, especially as cancer cases and costs continue to rise.
A Forbes article
Startup Radar: VCs on FemTech Startups Worth Watching
May 18, 2023: Only about 1% of all venture capital funding goes to women's health (also known as FemTech) companies. This article interviews four female venture capitalists, all focused on investing in women's health, about startups - both in and outside their current portfolios - that they think will be worth watching. The eight companies they list address a range of women's health issues: from pregnancy, labor, and delivery to cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment.
A PitchBook News interview
Ghostwrote for Linda Greub, Avestria's Co-Founder/Managing Partner
Women's Health Apps Are Among the Least Trusted: What To Know and How to Keep Your Data As Safe As Possible
May 16, 2023: One recent study found that five women's health apps were on the list of the top 10 apps that responders found the most untrustworthy. Although the survey also found that mistrust to be semi-misplaced, due to the relatively small amount of data that women's health apps collect, this article explores what to know about privacy and security and what to do to keep data safe regardless. After all, about 1/3 of American women utilize a period-tracking app: one of the most common women's health apps used today.
A Forbes article
Are (Male) Investors Missing the Obvious? Why Investing in Female Leaders in Healthcare Can Increase Returns and Improve Health Outcomes
May 12, 2023: Male investors still control the majority of financial assets and of investment power. However, they have historically under-invested in female leaders in healthcare. This op-ed argues that female leaders in healthcare should be an obvious, not an overlooked, investment opportunity because of women's involvement as healthcare decision-makers, patients, and workers - and because of female teams' superior performance to male teams'.
A Crunchbase News op-ed
Ghostwrote for Linda Greub, Avestria's Co-Founder/Managing Partner
Beyond the Mythos of the 4%: Three Alternative Sources of Funding for Companies Looking for Capital
April 27, 2023: Venture capital still seems to go from white male investors to white male founders. But founders who don't fit that mold don't have to reply on venture capital for funding; they can turn to angel investors, crowdsourcing, or grants to help their companies receive capital.
A Forbes article
Being a Woman Doesn't Have to Be a (Chronic) Pain
April 5, 2023: 70% of those with chronic pain are women - and yet, women are more likely than men to be dismissed, to be misdiagnosed and mistreated, and to wait for emergency services. This article demonstrates the various ways that women in chronic pain are at a disadvantage to their male counterparts as well as recommends a few strategies, such as representing women proportionally in clinical trials around chronic pain, to start mitigating this difference.
A Forbes article
Why Investing in Women's Health is Impact Investing
February 24, 2023: Impact investing is growing in popularity, offering investors a chance to contribute to social good as well as financial gains.
This op-ed argues that women's health is a sector that has been historically overlooked but meets the goals of impact investing. Investing in women's health betters not just individual women but also families, workforces, and economies.
Plus, investing in female founders - who are the usual founders of women's health companies - offers economic advantages as well as social ones.
A Fast Company op-ed
5 Questions Emerging Managers Should Ask Before Selecting LPs
February 24, 2023: For emerging managers - those who are still new to running a venture capital fund - finding investors (also known as LPs, or limited partners) is crucial. However, not all LPs are created equal. In this op-ed, Linda Greub covers the five questions that emerging managers should ask before adding an LP to their fund: which LPs are the emerging managers targeting? Do your target LPs understand your investment thesis? Are you close to the decision-maker? Do your target LPs understand venture capital investing? What other resources can your potential LPs provide?
A TechCrunch op-ed
Ghostwrote for Linda Greub, Avestria's Co-Founder/Managing Partner
This Female-Run VC Firm Invests in Startups that Prioritize Women's Health
January 20, 2023: GirlTalk HQ, which covers stories of female empowerment, conducted this written interview with Avestria's co-founder and managing partner, Linda Greub. This interview covers what inspired Linda to co-found Avestria, what companies are in Avestria's portfolio, and how women's health is starting to see a rise in attention, even in pop culture.
A GirlTalk HQ interview
Ghostwrote for Linda Greub, Avestria's Co-Founder & Managing Partner
The Rise of Interest and Investment in Women's Health
January 19, 2023: In the third century BCE, the Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that women were deformed: the opposite of strong, healthy men.
Thousands of years later, this gender bias still persists - and affects the way that women's health is diagnosed, understood, and treated.
However, the interest and investment in women's health and in women's health companies has slowly been rising over the past few years. This article tracks the reason for that increase, the new understanding that women are not just small or deformed men, and the social and economic benefits of investing in the women's health market.
A MedCity News article
Investing in FemTech
August 16, 2021: How did "FemTech" go from a word first coined to make male investors comfortable with investing in women's healthcare to a market projected to be worth $60B+ by 2025?
This chapter in investing in FemTech for FemTech Collective's 2021 Market Report covers the challenges facing founders of femtech companies, areas for innovation, and the positive economic impact of putting dollars into women's health.
A 2021 FemTech Market Report
The healthcare system has long ignored women's health and failed female patients. Female-backed health startups can change things.
September 27, 2020: Although women compose 50% of the population, only 4% of all healthcare research and development goes towards women's health issues specifically.
Ignoring sex-based health differences only puts women's health at risk. This op-ed not only argues for increased research in and funding towards women's health but also proposes a solution - levying female investors and women-centric health ventures to replace the male standard in healthcare and develop women-centric care.
Read this op-ed on Business Insider.
A Business Insider op-ed