On 10 September 2024, Helen Leung and Frances Myatt (Peterhouse PhD students) organised an event at Cambridge Tech Week entitled 'FemTech and the Women's Health Gap: A Sleeping Giant'. This event brought together 12 leaders from the realms of science, business and policy to discuss the gender health gap. It was inspired by an earlier event celebrating the 40th anniversary of women’s admission to Peterhouse at which both Helen and Frances presented their research.

The collection of speakers brought forth essential insights highlighting the multi-faceted nature of this challenge. Firstly, we discussed clinical and gender health disparities in science and healthcare delivery, with the emphasis on a lack of sex-disaggregated data crucial for advancing the field. Next, the focus shifted to technology and business. Whilst FemTech innovation is growing, there is a disproportionate lack of funding for innovations in this space and an important need for regulation to protect potentially vulnerable consumers and ensure ethical progress. The event concluded with a call for a shift in sociocultural attitudes to break stigmas and drive change in women's healthcare, featuring a popular live poetry reading from Ted Hughes award-winning poet Hollie McNish. Lively discussion continued at a post-event drinks reception hosted in Peterhouse by the Master, Professor Andy Parker, to round off an inspiring afternoon. This gave the opportunity for attendees and speakers to continue the conversations begun during the panels.

Many attendees and speakers said that a particular highlight of the event was the inclusion of a panel on socio-cultural attitudes to women’s health in addition to scientific discussion, with speakers from the Humanities, Social Sciences, and creative arts. Such interdisciplinarity highlights the key role that the University of Cambridge can play in facilitating these vital discussions.