$50M PROGRAM
the missed vital sign
Every minute, somewhere in the US, a woman requires a blood transfusion — because she is menstruating. Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) is more common than asthma or diabetes in reproductive aged women. As well as causing adverse physical health conditions like anemia, HMB also results in poor emotional and financial health.
But it is largely ignored.
“ If any other part of the body was bleeding this heavily, we'd call an ambulance.”
— Jackie Maybin, Program Director
The goal of The Missed Vital Sign program is to demonstrate that routine recording, quantifiable measurement, and better treatment options for menstruation can reduce the time a woman experiences heavy menstrual bleeding from 5 years to 5 months. We aim to do this without increasing unwanted surgical intervention or menstrual cycle suppression. This could prevent more than 68 billion episodes of HMB in a single decade and allow more women and girls to thrive.
Specifically, this program aims to develop a high-performance multivariate tool to robustly identify women at risk of iron deficiency from their menstruation within 3 months, not 3 years. As well, it is focused on identifying causal factors for HMB to inform development of new diagnostics and identify new, precise, non-hormonal therapies, particularly those that can be self-administered. Development and validation of patient stratification tools personalized management, ensuring women get treatments that work for them within 2 months, not 2 years. Together these breakthroughs could reduce iron deficiency rates in reproductive aged women by 25%.
“ Many have helped to raise awareness. Our aim now is to raise expectations. Women need better solutions — routine recording and quantitative measurement would ensure that menstruation is no longer The Missed Vital Sign. ”
— Regina E. Dugan, President & CEO of Wellcome Leap
Women often reach crisis point before getting help for HMB. Taboos surrounding menstruation result in normalization by women, healthcare professionals, and society. We still do not understand the fundamental mechanisms that result in HMB when the endometrium breaks down, sheds, and repairs at menstruation. This lack of biological understanding means the mainstay of current treatment is fertility removing surgery or hormonal medication that can override the entire reproductive system. Developments in menstrual fluid analytics, the vaginal microbiome, genetic and digital phenotyping, in vivo, in vitro, and in silico endometrial models, and machine learning mean that it is now possible, for the first time, to identify women with HMB at scale, develop new treatment options, and personalize management.
Program Director.
Further details.
To learn more about the program history, performer teams, and process, please visit the Program Details Page.