Issue 25: Women of Science Jan '25
News, profiles, research, reviews, recommendations on all things women in science
Welcome back to another edition of WOSc - the weekly newsletter covering all things women in science 📈🧠📚𝞹
🔬 What to expect?
All subscribers receive the free edition covering highlights in media, awards and discovery as well as things to read, see and watch re: women in science. Drops every Tuesday. Tell your friends:
Thank you for joining. Enjoy the read.
A quick run-down of this issue:
Abstract & Intro: News and updates on all things women of and in science
Materials, Methods, Discussion: Interviews and talking points of note
Conclusions & Further Reading: Our media & content recommendations for your week
Abstract & Intro
Your rundown of headlines, news, notes & media snippets re: women of science
🥼 Industry & Life sciences
📌 Big Four accounting firms set to miss female partner targets for 2025
EY and PwC will struggle to meet UK goals while KPMG and Deloitte are likely to fall short on global ambition.
📌 Female health startups face barriers to growth and insurance
“Femtech” – technology solutions tailored for women's health and well-being –. remains a small segment in the global health technology.
💻 Tech
📌 Female founders short-changed by climate tech investors again in 2024
Studies find female-led companies are more profitable than their male counterparts despite not having received anywhere near the same level of funding.
📌 Prioritizing gender equity in science and tech investments
Addressing gender equity means prioritizing women throughout the innovation process – from research and development to discovery
📌 The toxic threat to women from 'deepfake' tech is very real
It's time to act now to protect people, primarily girls and women, from the potential trauma of being targeted with deepfake technology, so says Arlene Foster…
🚀 Physics
📌 The physicist on a mission to understand Mercury's epic solar storms
Suzie Imber is a co-investigator for the BepiColombo mission, currently on its way to Mercury, looking to cast new light on the planet's many oddities.
🤖 AI
📌 Next Wave of Leading Women in AI Identified in New Global Data Set
Zeki Data's proprietary data and scoring system has pinpointed the precise women at the forefront of AI innovation.
📌 Gender bias, AI, and deepfakes are promoting misogyny online
Gendered biases in artificial intelligence, the accessibility of violent pornography, and normalised gender bias in mainstream internet are on the rise…
📌 AI helps predict memory issues, cognitive decline during menopausal transition
Artificial intelligence might be able to more quickly and affordably identify menopausal women who are having problems with memory, according to this study.
Entrepreneur Zhou Chaonan has become one of just three Chinese women billionaires in the ranks of world's 500 richest people.
💊 Healthcare
📌 Women’s health tech brand Elvie is expanding into sleep products
British femtech brand Elvie - known for its wearable breast pumps - is getting into the sleep category with a new baby bouncer.
📌 Pregnant woman's grey matter shrinks by 5%, partly recovers postpartum, study finds
Grey matter volume shrinks by about five per cent during pregnancy, followed by a partial recovery in the postpartum period, a study has found.
Healthtech is evolving with AI, driving faster drug discovery, efficient clinical trials, femtech growth, and personalized care.
📌 ‘Young women can fall pregnant very easily’: inside the wild west of smartphone fertility apps
The Observer’s analysis finds unregulated products being promoted as contraception despite concerns about their accuracy.
Materials, Methods, Discussion
This week - interviews, discussions and more:
🖊️ Interviews and features of note:
🖊️ Pods and vids:
🧠 Weekly: Gene-editing to make superhumans; first bird flu death in the US; perfect pasta with physicsNew Scientist’s weekly pod dives into creating disease-resistant humans may before too long be a reality thanks to advancements in CRISPR gene editing, and other topical science news of the past 7 days.
🤖 CES 2025: What's Next for Smart Cities: AI for Data, Planning and BeyondIn this episode of Female VC Lab, the panel dive into the transformative potential of AI in developing smart cities, as discussed in a CES 2025 panel; covering aspects ranging from extreme weather prediction to citizen-centric services and the ethical implications of AI in urban governance.
Conclusions & Further Reading
More links & signposts for you to enjoy this week…
The Written Word:
🧑💻 Council Post: Innovating Women’s Health: Essential Lessons For Health Tech Founders
📝 I survived the tech layoffs. Now how do I figure out what I really want from my career?
🔬 Part of ancient Britain was a woman’s world, burials reveal
Events & opportunities:
🎯 Sign up to be a healthtech mentor (or mentee) with Sixty Twelve: Is this something we at WOSc are building ourselves? Keep your eyes peeled (and pass on the message)!
📍 Open deadline
🎯 Tech4Eva Global Femtech Accelerator 2025
Applications are open for the Tech4Eva Global Femtech Accelerator 2025. Tech4Eva is a global Femtech community and 6-month equity-free tech accelerator programme for companies developing innovative women’s health solutions.
📍 15th Feb
🎯 Innovation in women's health and FemTech from the RSM Obs&Gynae Section - one for the diary!
📍 28th Feb
That’s all for this issue!
Thank you for reading: The WoS mission is to support, share and promote the innovative and groundbreaking work that has been and continues to be done by women across all scientific disciplines, and to empower and inspire the next generation of female leaders in the field.
If you liked it, here’s another reminder to share us with your friends, network, neighbours, coffee baristas ☕ etc.: