How AthenaDAO is Making Women's Health a Priority
DeSci is paving the way for new ways to fund and promote innovation for medical research. One area of health research that’s often overlooked and underfunded is women’s health and fertility. AthenaDAO is on a mission to change that.
We spoke with Victoria and Jenna from the team to learn more about how they’re bridging this gap. Founded in August 2022, AthenaDAO has quickly established itself as a leader in the DeSci space, with an impressive community of 27,000 members and nearly $1 million in funded research.
The women's health research gap
Women's health research has been chronically underfunded and overlooked in traditional scientific institutions. As Victoria pointed out during our conversation, women weren't even included in clinical trials until 1990, and even today, many studies use mouse models that don't accurately replicate the female menstrual cycle.
General practitioners receive only six hours of training on menopause, a condition that affects half the world's population. There's also a concerning focus on obstetrics over gynecology, leaving many women uninformed about their own health conditions.
Why decentralization works
AthenaDAO's approach leverages decentralization to address these gaps in a way traditional institutions can't. Victoria explained why DeSci is particularly well-suited for women's health:
"For women's health, there's a lot of low-hanging fruit that just hasn't been tackled yet due to funding issues. With something affecting 50% of the population, having a bottom-up approach rather than top-down is really effective because we can get science funded faster."
This approach allows AthenaDAO to tap into an impressive deal flow of research proposals from prestigious institutions like Oxford, Cornell, and the National University of Singapore. Their community-driven model helps them reach researchers who might otherwise remain disconnected from funding opportunities.
Community-driven research and education
AthenaDAO has built a passionate community that actively contributes to advancing women's health research. Their approach combines strict scientific evaluation with community governance:
Deal flow process: Projects are first vetted by their deal flow team before being reviewed by senior members and ultimately presented to the community for voting through Snapshot governance.
Fertility courses: Their recent fertility course saw great engagement, with speakers staying an hour past scheduled time to answer the community's questions.
Decentralized studies: They've conducted a token-incentivized fertility study and are planning a wearables cohort that will enable community members to test devices and contribute to open data collection.
Traditional science with web3
One of AthenaDAO's most impressive achievements has been successfully bridging the gap between scientific institutions and the web3 space. They do this by:
- Meeting scientists where they are: Attending academic and industry conferences related to women's health to connect directly with researchers.
- Creating valuable connections: Facilitating collaboration between scientists and clinicians who typically operate in separate spheres.
- Providing alternative funding mechanisms: Offering researchers new funding paths beyond traditional grant writing, which typically consumes 80% of scientists' time.
- Making science accessible: Creating digestible content that educates both their crypto-native community and traditional healthcare stakeholders.
Intellectual property on the blockchain
AthenaDAO utilizes IP NFTs to tokenize research ownership on the blockchain. This creates a transparent record of research ownership through legally binding agreements attached to blockchain metadata.
The model allows them to potentially tokenize research outcomes, enabling trading based on project developments while maintaining clear audit trails.
Looking forward
AthenaDAO continues to expand their initiatives with upcoming projects including:
- A cohort focusing on wearable devices and biosensors for women's health
- A call for submissions on ovarian aging research in Japan
- Ongoing community-building and educational efforts
Their holistic approach addresses multiple gaps in women's health: funding, data, education, and access to care. By leveraging the efficiency of decentralized governance and scientific expertise, they're creating a new model for advancing women's health research.
Women's health matters
As Jenna eloquently stated, "Women's biology is just interesting biology." The field represents not only a major opportunity for scientific advancement but also potential breakthroughs that could benefit everyone.
With women making up 50% of the global population and controlling approximately 80% of consumer spending, the market opportunity for women's health innovations is substantial. Beyond the financial incentives, improving women's health research directly impacts the wellbeing of mothers, sisters, partners, and friends.
To learn more about AthenaDAO or get involved, follow them on X and join their community on Common.