Unlocking the Potential of Menstrual Blood in Health Testing – Global Women’s Health Innovation Conclave
Global Women’s Health Innovation Conclave shared a post on LinkedIn:
“A recent article in the Guardian focuses on innovations around period blood.
‘Period blood has long been thought of as ‘stinky and useless’, but startups are exploring using the fluid to test for a wide range of health conditions – including difficult-to-diagnose endometriosis.’
The article outlines the journey of NextGen Jane, Inc. a startup founded in 2014. NGJ is one of a handful of small, mostly women-led ‘femtech’ startups that, alongside a few academic research teams, are in a race to develop blood tests using menstrual effluent collected non-invasively at home.
Article also features comments from the ROSE research team, a group of Feinstein Institutes scientists and professionals who use several innovative approaches to study endometriosis and other women’s reproductive health disorders.
It is an obvious biological specimen that has been totally neglected,’ says Christine Metz, who co-leads the Research Outsmarts Endometriosis (Rose) project out of The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health. ‘It is considered waste but in fact it’s a real treasure.’
How and why this matters to women’s health?
- Endometriosis affects an estimated 10% (190 million) of reproductive age women worldwide. Endometriosis is a chronic disease and symptoms include: severe pain during menstruation; heavy menstrual bleeding; chronic pelvic pain (pain that does not go away when the menstrual cycle ends); infertility; and abdominal bloating and nausea.
- There is currently no cure for endometriosis;
- As of 2026, researchers and global health organizations emphasize that early detection is critical to altering the long-term trajectory of this progressive disease.”
Read more.
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