Women’s health is gaining traction
Women’s health is in the spotlight now more than ever. That’s why it also took center stage in our most read newsletter this year! At BioVox, we are proud to provide a platform to showcase these scientific breakthroughs and ongoing efforts to improve women’s health and wellbeing.
More and more institutions and companies are broadening their focus to address and raise awareness about female-specific (health) challenges. The HEART project at UZ Brussels shines a light on pre-eclampsia – a condition characterized by maternal cardiovascular disease and fetal developmental issues. By identifying early biomarkers indicative of a higher risk for the condition, which is often the case in IVF-assisted pregnancies, researchers aim to improve the outcomes for IVF-assisted pregnancies and raise awareness on the importance of informing patients about pre-eclampsia.
Researchers from Ghent University aimed to increase cervical cancer screening rates, which was under two thirds for Flemish women in 2021. Through interviews, they identified the specific needs and barriers faced by un(der)screened women to find ways to include hard-to-reach, or vulnerable women and decrease cervical cancer incidence for everyone.
Read why some women fall through the cracks of cervical cancer screening
Beyond healthcare, awareness around women’s health issues also fosters inclusivity in the workplace. Misinformation around female health still persists, requiring women to adapt. Eliminating this gender bias boosts productivity and confidence in women, serving the company better results and higher profits.
Read about the importance and challenges of retaining female talents
These efforts highlight that both our understanding and acknowledgement of female-specific health issues are key to creating a happier and healthier environment for all.
Humanized cell models to advance our knowledge
Groundbreaking knowledge is being obtained thanks to advances in organoid and organ-on-chip models. These innovative technologies enable personalized research using human cell structures, making them powerful tools for studying health and disease. Remarkable progress has been made in the microbiome and neurology fields. These models also facilitate the much-needed shift away from reliance on animal models. We have covered several stories this year highlighting the fascinating (and futuristic) work that is being done in this field.
The strength of these humanized models lies in their ability to retain cellular and structural complexity within a controlled laboratory setting. The company OrganoTherapeutics leverages this potential by developing midbrain organoids to study the cellular impacts of Parkinson’s disease and drive the discovery of novel therapeutics for this challenging condition.
Additionally, organ-on-chip models are gifted simulators of the human microenvironment, allowing academic collaborative projects, such as DeVEnIR, to use a vagina-on-chip model to research the causes and possible treatments of vulvovaginal candidiasis infections. On the gut side, the company NIUM combines gut-on-a-chip devices with data analytics to study our complex constellation of gut microbes and how they are influenced by drugs or what we eat.
Read about the vagina-on-chip model and the gut-on-a-chip model
These technologies can be complemented and enhanced with current advancements in 3D bioprinting. But to ‘click and print’ organs in the clinic, standardization and reproducibility of the required biomaterials are important. The Belgian company BIO INX brings us one step closer by developing reproducible ‘plug & print’ bioinks including living cells, bioactive molecules, and other innovative scaffold components.
Although futuristic, these models already have a significant impact on today’s research and are a steppingstone towards more personalized healthcare.
Overcoming common challenges in data science
The field of personalized medicine is advancing, and data science and AI hold great potential to further facilitate this growth. However, multiple challenges remain for these technologies to become true drivers of precision medicine. We’ve covered several stories this year addressing common challenges of data science in healthcare and promising solutions.
To address some of these challenges, the ATHENA project consortium successfully devised a set of building blocks. The foundation is the integration of different data types and decentralized data management securing patient privacy. Multi-stakeholder collaboration and a solid data governance framework complete the block tower.
Two of the challenges preventing data integration are non-standardized data reporting and incompatible data models. The OMOP Common Data Model tries to tackle this problem by offering a standardized model for representing health-related data from diverse sources.
But, even if these challenges are solved, analyses with current AI models remain challenging in the healthcare sector due to the ‘black box’ nature of many current models. In the HEROI2C project, Jarne Verhaeghe and the PreDiCT team are trying to use causal AI – offering a peek inside the black box – to optimize antibiotic treatment for patients in the intensive care unit.
Facing these challenges will ultimately result in more efficient, personalized, and impactful care solutions.
Improving health across all species
Advances in human healthcare hold immense potential to transform veterinary and plant sciences as well—fields that are often overlooked. At BioVox, we take pride in bringing these vital topics to the forefront.
Compared to its human counterpart, veterinary data science still lags behind, hindered by the compartmentalization and scarcity of animal data. BioLizard is aiming to advance this field by supporting life sciences companies and research institutions in extracting actionable insights from animal (big) data, improving their health.
With the same goal in mind, Animab battles antimicrobial resistance with their monoclonal antibodies guarding production animals against infection during vulnerable developmental periods.
Their platform is based on precision fermentation, which is also often used to sustainably produce animal proteins. PFx Biotech, for example, produces bioactive human milk proteins using this technology to sustainably improve nutrition for a broad range of people. The start-up benefits from the support of biotope, an incubator designed for sustainable biotech, agritech, and agrifood startups aiming to grow their innovations into investment-ready businesses.
Read about Belgium’s ‘Positive for the Planet’ evolution through agritech
These innovative efforts show how cutting-edge technologies pave the way for a healthier, more sustainable future across species.
Looking back, the BioVox team are grateful for the inspiring individuals we’ve met this year and the fascinating stories we’ve had the privilege of sharing with you. We look forward to a new year of groundbreaking science, bringing you life sciences innovations from the front row!
