Issue 26: Women of Science Feb '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 (and it is *finally* February!)
🔬 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 are on track to miss 2025 targets for female partner representation in the UK as the Big Four accounting firms struggle to recruit and retain female talent.
💻 Tech
📌 Bumble's new CEO is already leaving the company months after killing its signature feature
A year after assuming the role and initiating a slew of controversial changes, Lidiane Jones is out as CEO of Bumble Inc.
📌 New report shows tech still isn't filling the women's health gap
If businesses want to make more money this year, there's one simple thing they could do — build more products for women, according to Sifted.
📌 Delfina Care Raises $17M to Expand AI-Powered Maternal Health
Delfina Care, a healthcare technology company addressing the maternal health crisis raises $17M in Series A funding round led by USVP.
🤖 AI
Research suggests that women make up less than a third of AI professionals and only 18% of AI researchers globally.
📌 AI Can Predict Breast Cancer Risk Years Before Diagnosis, Study Finds
In more news regarding the use of AI in diagnostics, a study has revealed that AI can identify women who have an elevated risk of developing breast cancer several years before it is diagnosed.
💊 Healthcare
📌 Billionaire Pavel Durov Offering Free IVF To Women Willing To Have His Baby
Pavel Durov, worth an estimated $15.5 billion as of Tuesday, is offering to cover the cost of IVF treatment for interested, healthy women under 38 years of age.
📌 Teal Health raises $10M to create at-home cervical cancer screenings
Teal Health has secured $10 million in additional seed funding to support the launch of the Teal Wand, which is set to become the first at-home cervical cancer screening tool.
📌 Research shows PTSD, anxiety may affect reproductive health of women firefighters
Investigators at the Zuckerman College of Public Health led a study that found negative mental health conditions among women firefighters - especially pertinent given the ongoing devastating fires affecting California.
📌 The new science of menopause: these emerging therapies could change women’s health
Researchers are exploring how to prolong ovarian life and revisiting hormone replacement therapy — a once routine treatment that has fallen by the wayside.
Materials, Methods, Discussion
This week - interviews, discussions, and more:
🖊️ Interviews and features of note:
🖊️ Pods and vids:
🧠 Transforming clinical trials: NewScientistTransforming clinical trials: NS interview Dr Melanie Ivarsson, from the global biotechnology company Moderna, to find out why she chose the UK for a billion-pound research and development program
🤖 NATURE PODCAST: The AI revolution is running out of data. What can researchers do?Nature Podcasts: The explosive improvement in artificial intelligence (AI) technology has largely been driven by making neural networks bigger and training them on more data. But experts suggest that the developers of these systems may soon run out of data to train their models. As a result, teams are taking new approaches, such as searching for other unconventional data sources, or generating new data to train their AIs.
This is an audio version of our Feature: The AI revolution is running out of data. What can researchers do?
Conclusions & Further Reading
More links & signposts for you to enjoy this week…
The Written Word:
👩🏻🔬 Trump’s first term birthed the March for Science. Where are the science activists now?
Are egg freezing clinics complicit in fertility fear-mongering?
🧑💻 I knew one day I'd have to watch powerful men burn the world down - I just didn’t expect them to be such losers
🔬 Dreams of cancer vaccines are becoming more real. Here are 9 scientists making it happen
❤️ The new science of menopause: these emerging therapies could change women’s health
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
🎯 Great Debate on NHS Data | Free event at RSM HQ in London - open to all members and non-members, involving a debate on the motion: “This house believes that the NHS should not monetise its data".
📍 10th 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.: