The second edition of Global Women’s Health Innovation Conference (GWHIC), dedicated to advancing women’s health through technology, will bring over thirty leading experts together on Friday 13 October 2023 in the Hotel Royal Orchid, Bengaluru.

The conference has gone global to invite leading women experts and innovators and extraordinary male allies, who have shown remarkable commitment to a health equal future to share their insights and experiences in a power packed agenda.

Speaking ahead of the conference announcement, the lead advisory board member, Reenita Das, the only woman Vice President of Frost & Sullivan, shared some of the highlights from the agenda. She said, “GWHIC takes a unique approach by beginning with women over sixty-five and engaging in substantive discussions on pressing issues related to dementia and chronic conditions. This departure from the norm, where most conferences typically emphasise menstruation and infertility as primary themes, adds a compelling dimension to the event. The one-day agenda will comprehensively address the significant challenges that women encounter throughout their life journey. The sessions will thoroughly explore these challenges, identify unmet needs, and highlight the stakes involved at each stage of a woman's life. Furthermore, the conference will examine the utilisation of best practices in Femtech and health tech, in conjunction with innovative strategies and collaboration with stakeholders, to provide women with enhanced support.”

A significant addition to the conference is Padmaja Ruparel, Co-Founder of Indian Angel Network and Founding Partner of IAN Fund who joins the Advisory Board this year and will bring the vital perspective of investors.

Women’s health investments, lack of equal funding opportunities and not enough interest from VC’s are seen as limiting factors for the growth and scaling of health ventures.

A dedicated session on menopause, considered a $600 billion opportunity by Female Founders Fund, will focus on the research and innovation in menopause. India’s leading menopause educator and Femtech innovator Swathi Kulkarni, Co-founder and CEO of Elda Health will lead this session. Swathi returns to the conference advisory board this year after her significant contribution in the 2022 edition.

“Unveiling the Unseen: Caring for the 65+ women” is a pathbreaking panel focused on elder women health. India’s leading elder care experts, Dr Arvind Kasthuri, Professor of Community Health in St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, and Dr Radha S Murthy, Co-Founder & Managing Trustee, Nightingales Medical Trust, will address the unique challenges of elder women such as geriatric care and dementia.

The panel is moderated by Bharat Gera, a digital health transformation pioneer and the Founder of Human Centric Healthcare Ecosystem (HCHE). Bharat is an innovator and health leader known for his long-term vision on how healthcare needs to be designed to be inclusive.

Conference speakers-

India

• Dr Radha S Murthy, Co-Founder& Managing Trustee, Nightingales Medical Trust
• Sanjeev Malhotra, CEO, Centre of Excellence for IoT and AI, NASSCOM
• Dr Arvind Kasthuri, Professor of Community Health in St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, who will share his vast experience in the field of Geriatric care. He is currently leading the pioneering St John’s Geriatric centre project. 
• Uma Nambiar, Co-founder and Chairperson, Digital Health India Association (DHIA)
• Padmaja Ruparel, Co-Founder of Indian Angel Network and Founding Partner of IAN Fund on the Advisory Board this year.

International

• Ann Garnier, Founder, and CEO of Lisa Health, the first service that uses AI and sensor technology to illuminate the menopause life stage and support women.
• Dr Mridula Pore, Co-founder and Co-CEO of the leading platform Peppy, which is disrupting the Stigma around Women’s Health.
• Sanj Singh, CEO of Temple Therapeutics, who has invested in research and awareness on Endometriosis, a health condition that affects roughly 10% (190 million) of reproductive age women and girls globally.
• Shailja Dixit, CEO and Founder, Curio Digital Therapeutics
• Reenita Das, a global health leader, Healthcare evangelist, strategist, and voted top 100 women in Healthtech and Femtech and the only woman Vice President of Frost & Sullivan.

Agenda at A Glance:

The one-day conference will focus on the main health challenges and inequalities, in segments of elder women care, menopause, cardiovascular diseases in women, mental health, and endometriosis along with venture capitalists and Femtech entrepreneurs who will share analysis and trends of funding and growth opportunities.

Agenda highlights:

• A future forward summary of the Top Growth Opportunities in Women’s Health 2030
• Unveiling the Unseen: Caring for the Invisible Women: A Focus on Women Aged 65+
• Closing the Menopause Knowledge Gap: Empowering Women in Their 40s and Beyond
• Breaking the Silence: Healthcare Challenges of the 20 to 40 Age
• Mind Matters: Women's Mental Health - Navigating Challenges and Building Resilience
• Gender Disparities in Cardiovascular Health
• Bridging the Divide in Funding for Women's Health: Advancing Research, Access, and Equity
• Rising Role of Workplaces for Better Women’s Health
• Impacting Women’s health through FEMTECH Innovation
• Future of women’s health with focus on emerging technologies

‘Building a FEMTECH global success story’ A fireside chat:

The health innovators and future entrepreneurs in the audience will have plenty of opportunities to hear from the speakers and especially from the Fireside chat on ‘Building a FEMTECH global success story’ with a global innovator Shailja Dixit, CEO and Founder, Curio Digital Therapeutics, who has built her venture from scratch.

Jaya Rebello, Managing Director of Collab Function, the conference organiser, announced the key partnerships and the highlights for the year 2023. She said, “Through our unwavering commitment to fostering health equity and bringing about positive change in the ecosystem of women's health, we are not only envisioning a brighter future but actively shaping it. We welcome Frost & Sullivan, the growth pipeline company, as the Knowledge Partner this year. For over six decades, Frost & Sullivan has guided the world’s top companies toward transformational growth journeys that result in a stream of innovative growth opportunities.”

BioSpectrum, India’s most authoritative biotech business monthly magazine, providing coverage of happenings in BioPharma, BioTech and allied industries, joins the conference as a Biotech Partner.

The 2022 conference media partner, MediCircle will once again join as the media partner for the year 2023. A digital healthcare platform, MediCircle leads in championing innovation, inclusivity, and progress in women's health.

GWHIC Femtech & Innovation Awards: Staying true to the commitment to women’s health, the conference will present GWHIC Femtech & Innovation Awards to recognise leading voices and innovators who have made a significant contribution to women’s health. The award nominations are open till 30 September and nomination information is available at https://gwhic.com/awards2023/

GWHIC 2023 is designed to serve as a platform inspiring change, a call for action to address the dynamics and the inequalities in decision making around women’s health and to bring inspiring ideas and global best practises to India.

Conference registration is open to all who are committed to health equity and support utilising technologies for bring better outcomes for women’s health.

Delegate registration can be done at: https://gwhic.com/delegate-registration/.

For any further assistance or information, contact on hello@collabfunction.com or call 7777019003.