The Female-Founded Biotech Startup Seeks to Address the Gender Health Gap by Championing Inclusive Scientific & Medical Research
NEW YORK, June 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Evvy - the female-founded biotech startup demystifying the female body starting with the vaginal microbiome, is proud to launch the first annual Equal Research Day today, June 10th.
June 10th is the 29th anniversary of the passing of the 1993 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act, the first law requiring women to be included in U.S. clinical research. Equal Research Day commemorates this historic moment, while also recognizing how far we still have to go to close the gender health gap.
On average, women are diagnosed 4 years later than men across hundreds of diseases, are more likely to die from heart attacks, react poorly to prescription drugs, and have pain and symptoms dismissed by doctors. Through Equal Research Day, Evvy aims to raise awareness of how excluding female-bodied people in scientific and medical research for centuries has manifested in today's persistent gender health gap.
"The female body shouldn't be a medical mystery," said Priyanka Jain, CEO and Co-founder of Evvy. "We started Evvy to demystify the female body through comprehensive data, which we believe is a critical part of closing the gender health gap. We're excited to be starting Equal Research Day this year to champion the work that has been done so far, shed light on the persistent gaps, and celebrate those working to fix it."
"I joined Evvy to pioneer a better standard of care for women while also growing a brand that is empowering women to better understand their own bodies," said Dr. Kelle Moley, Obstetrician Gynecologist, physician, scientist and Evvy Advisor. "Equal Research Day is an initiative we are so proud to cement and is one that we hope will be a catalyst to rectify the historical exclusion of women in studies."
In addition to raising awareness, Evvy seeks to inspire everyone to take action to close the gender health gap, specifically where women are:
- Underfunded by donating to its Equal Research Day partner the Society for Women's Health Research, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting research on biological sex differences in disease;
- Underresearched by discovering female-focused clinical trials and consider volunteering for one;
- Underdiagnosed by learning more about how the relative lack of research on the female body manifests in healthcare disparities today;
- Undervalued by creating a virtual community via the #EqualResearchDay hashtag and resharing the day's manifesto;
- Unequal by encouraging people to share their stories of inequality in the healthcare system via #EqualResearchDay across social platforms to show other women that they are not alone.
In addition to collecting donations on behalf of the Society for Women's Health Research, Evvy will also be selling an exclusive collection of merchandise (totes, hats, and stickers) to benefit the nonprofit.
"Without equal research, there can never be equal care." said Laine Bruzek, Evvy Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Founder. "We hope Equal Research Day will be a rallying call for doctors, researchers, policymakers, and the wider community to work together to build a world where female health is finally understood and where medical bias has no place."
For more information and to shop the Equal Research Day collection benefiting the Society for Women's Health Research, visit EqualResearchDay.com
About Evvy
Evvy is on a mission to radically reinvent how we understand and treat the female body, starting with the vaginal microbiome. Evvy's first product — the Evvy Vaginal Health Test — is the first-ever at-home vaginal microbiome test to use metagenomic sequencing to tell you what's up down there, why it matters, and what you can do about it.
Founded by Stanford alums Priyanka Jain and Laine Bruzek, the Evvy team includes scientists, designers, doctors, and entrepreneurs, including a group of leading OBGYNs and vaginal microbiome researchers with decades of experience at organizations like UCSF, Stanford, Harvard, Cleveland Clinic, and more.
SOURCE Evvy
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