SCBUS Students in FemTech 2024: Advocating for Women's Health
SCBUS students proposing therapeutic solutions to support women’s health and individuals recovering from breast cancer with SenseHer
By Samantha Kremer
About the FemTech Innovation Challenge
The 2024 FemTech Innovation Challenge hosted by Velocity took place between October 28th and November 8th. Over 100 students had the opportunity to collaborate with peers in tackling 1 of 3 different segments of women’s health; gynecological health, menopause, and breast health. The challenge included insightful learning and research workshops, networking opportunities, mentorship roundtables, and a final pitch presentation where teams had the opportunity to present solutions to a panel of judges and win up to $4000.
SenseHer
SCBUS student, Disha Patel, and her teammates, Varsha Prasad, Maithily Kadam and Rifzah Ahmed formed one of the eight final-pitch teams. Here, they pitched SenseHer, a therapeutic bra designed to support women recovering from breast cancer treatment.
“Women’s health remains one of the most underfunded areas in research, despite women comprising 50.4% of Canada’s population. To address the real, persistent pain many women endure post-breast cancer treatment our solution, SenseHer, combines hot and cold therapy, massaging, and smart sensors for remote patient monitoring, allowing women to manage symptoms while returning to their daily activites.” - Disha Patel
Reflections and Looking Forward
In collaboration with Rachel Bartholomew, founder of FemTech Canada and HyIvy, Velocity supported teams by providing mentorship throughout the ideation and solution development process. Challenges like the FemTech Innovation Challenge drive innovation in various industries, producing robust leaders and offering students meaningful opportunities to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world issues.
This challenge brought forward some amazing innovations and I am so grateful to have been a part of such an inspiring environment. I was able to step into a space with no previous knowledge and create a successful innovation, while learning from some amazing leaders in FemTech.
The team felt especially inspired by women participating in FemTech who have immigrated from Southeast Asia, where breast-related topics are considered “taboo”. The SenseHer team wanted to support these women and address the hesitance many women experience in voicing their pain.
With the support of newly found connections and inspiration from industry innovators and breast cancer survivors, Disha and her team look forward to future Velocity events such as the Health Innovation Challenge where these young innovators can contribute to improving the healthcare system.
For any questions or further information about SenseHer, Disha Patel can be contacted through email.
