FMML harnesses AI and real-world data to revolutionize female health reserach

The ovaries are critical for the overall health of a woman. When ovaries cease functioning properly (menopause, premature ovarian failure), women’s risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, cognitive decline and other disorders increase significantly. We are building ML biomarker models targeting modifiable and non-modifiable factors in ovarian aging, or menopause using UK Biobank and MGB Biobank datasets. This work is being in done in collaboration with Dr David Pepin at MGB.

PCOS affects 1 in 5 women, yet remains undiagnosed in 70% of them. PCOS is the main cause of non-age related female infertility worldwide. PCOS increases the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular dysfunction, gynecological cancers, anxiety, depression and autism spectrum disorders. Daughters of women with PCOS have a fivefold increase in the risk of being diagnosed with the syndrome. We are developing algorithms for early detection of PCOS using UK Biobank and MGB Biobank datasets. This work is being in done in collaboration with Dr David Pepin at MGB.

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading killer of women. Women are 50% more likely to die the year following a heart attack. In addition, ovarian function greatly impacts cardiovascular health. Cardiac risk increases with menopause, and PCOS patients have greater cardiometabolic risk, as well as pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia. We are investigating the intersection of ovarian function on cardiometabolic health using the Dandelion Health AI dataset of 13M lives.

Currently, most of what we know about physiology and health is based on studies of males and male athletes. We are investigating the hormonal and physiological predictors of health outcomes such as menstrual regularity, bone mineral density (BMD), and cardiometabolic risk in females and female athletes. This work is in conjunction with Dr Kathryn Ackerman and Women's Health, Sports & Performance (WHISP).

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We have a bold goal of empowering 1 million women across the lifespan to democratize access to their own health data. Anyone participating in the research will get real-time information about their own health. If you are interested, please join the wait list by emailing us at fmml@mit.edu. More information can be found here.