Engineering for Women's Health

3 units

Engineering approaches have many uses in improving women’s health across the lifespan and across the globe, from basic science understanding through to clinical implementation at the point of care. This course will include female reproductive anatomy and physiology across the lifespan and touch on several challenges and pathologies in women’s health. Topics will include menstruation, contraception, endometriosis, pain, pregnancy complications, sexually transmitted infections, infertility, pelvic floor disorders, cancers of the female reproductive tract, menopause, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis. There will be a focus on unmet needs in women’s health based on different contexts of care, including well-funded tertiary medical centers, US healthcare deserts, and underserved settings within the US and around the world. The current clinical standard of care and emerging engineering research and startup technologies for each topic will be covered and enhanced by inclusion of expert women’s health engineering speakers with backgrounds in academic research, women’s health engineering startups, large companies, and device manufacturing. Students will complete case studies, one business pitch for a women’s health technology of their choosing, and one in-depth project on a women’s health engineering topic of their choosing.