Oshun Labs

“As engineers we are trying to build a better world."   An excellent interview with Dawn Bonfield MBE FREng, founder of International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) and Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at King's College London on The Life Scientific (BBC Radio 4) about how inclusivity and sustainability can make engineering better, future-proofing current and past design. Key takeaways: 🔨 Bias can be built into products, processes and outcomes if we don’t take a diverse approach from the start. Examples include the biases we see in AI systems, seatbelts not being designed for pregnant women or facial recognition software recognising one ethnic group more effectively than others. 📈 Bias will accumulate in a system if you don’t consider it from the get-go. A great example given in this interview is that of transport systems - if you design a transport system only for one group of people, ignoring another, issues for the group that have been left out will accumulate over time to a point where the system can become defunct for them. 🌎 Diversity isn’t tokenism. Engineers want the best solution for a given problem. To build a world we want to see, we need to consider different perspectives, user needs and impacts. “… if we then think actually that solution that we've come up with is only serving half of the population or that material that we are using, that we have chosen, is coming from a country where we have depleted a lot of their water supply or caused a lot of environmental damage, we need to know that as engineers...” ♻️ Engineers are key change-makers in creating a more circular and sustainable world. International collaboration and knowledge networks between countries and industry groups are a key aspect of tackling the climate crisis. 📝 We need to be building pipelines for all kinds of people, and especially women and girls, to get into engineering. That means having clarity around what it means to work in engineering and incentivising STEM subjects from a young age. The full interview is available here - https://lnkd.in/eTnaTSVr #engineering #sustainability #womeninstem #diversity #bbc #interview

👩🏼🍼 Would you like to support breastfeeding research? 👩🏾🍼 Remote UK Paid Research, 8th – 11th July We're working on an exciting project about breast pumps! Our research partner We are Human is looking for participants who have purchased, used or considered using a breast pump. Full details below 👇

Call for submissions! 📢 Big tech platforms systematically discriminate against women’s health companies by removing their ads and suspending their ad accounts due to gender bias practices. This is unacceptable as it: 💻 Limits revenue generation  💻 Impacts consumer access to critical health information 💻 Perpetuates the funding gap. (when companies can’t advertise or reach consumers, they can’t reach sales targets, hindering investor interest) The recent EU policy “Digital Services Act” is designed to create fair spaces where women’s health companies can effectively advertise their critical services. But it needs to be exercised. You can help by providing the evidence needed! Please fill in this survey developed by censHERship below and spread it to your network: https://lnkd.in/dAcKWizP #Censorship #InvestInHer #Meta #EuropeanUnion

The Sustainability in Femtech Report 2023 is available NOW. 92.6% of respondents believe the Femtech sector has a responsibility to adopt and implement sustainable approaches Nearly three quarters (72.2%) think improvements are needed to make the industry more sustainable Get the full report here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eFbf-e82 #sustainability #report #femtech #medtech

We're actively working on solutions to improve circularity and waste reduction from healtech and medical devices ♻ Our Innovation Exchange challenge is now live via the Innovate UK Net Zero catalyst fund, details below 👇

From the outside, women’s hearts may look the same as men’s, but there are important differences. Specifically, women experience unique events over the course of their lifespan which may impact their cardiovascular health. For example, an individual’s menstrual health and patterns, or conditions related to fertility, such as polycystic ovary syndrome or endometriosis, may influence her cardiovascular well-being. Although cardiovascular disease is often considered a disease of men, women are more likely to die from a heart attack when compared with men. This fact often surprises women and even their health-care providers. Many women are not aware that heart disease is a significant health threat to them, but the reality is that five times as many women die from heart disease as breast cancer. Despite dramatic improvements in management of cardiovascular disease over time, the death rate due to heart disease is actually increasing in women, especially those under age 65. It has become clear that women remain under-researched, under-diagnosed, under-treated, under-supported an under-aware of their cardiovascular risk. Women need to not only be aware of how their risk for heart disease may change across the lifespan, but also how they can be proactive and make informed decisions regarding their heart health at all stages of life. #womenshealth #femtech #healthtech #digitalhealth #healthcare #healthcareinnovation #startups #innovation #health #medtech #healthcareresearch #femalehealth #genderhealthgap #reproductivehealth #funding #investment #grants #maternalhealth #periods #menstruation #sexualhealth #sextech #menopause #fertility #pregnancy #postpartum #eggfreezing #IVF #healthequity #pelvicfloor #pelvicfloorhealth #hormonehealth

Happy heart month! It’s the perfect time to talk about…menopause. Did you know that menopause increases your risk of heart disease? At Oshun Labs we are working on an innovative solution to improve nutrition and cardiovascular health for women through menopause and post-menopause. We’re working with food science, nutrition and health experts, with funding from Innovate UK, to develop an easy way for women to improve their heart health and reduce risk of illness.   Watch this space for updates about our work creating innovative, sustainable solutions for women's health and wellbeing. More info on menopause and heart health (via Irish Heart Foundation) here https://lnkd.in/gTvcc2az #femtech #hearthealth #menopause #healthyageing