Over 100 Years After Women Became “Persons,” Healthcare Still Treats Them Like Small Men

CALGARY, October 18, 2025 — The 1920s saw women across both the US and Canada fighting for – and winning – legal personhood. Today, a century on, a strikingly similar battle persists: forcing health research to acknowledge medical personhood of the female body: women’s bodies aren’t just smaller versions of men’s.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. Women are 50% more likely to be misdiagnosed during a heart attack. They are twice as likely to suffer adverse drug reactions.They make up 80% of autoimmune disorder cases. They are twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s… and yet despite rampant disparity they’re still systematically excluded from clinical trials on the crime of being “complicated,” (Bruinvels, 2017).

My Normative Inc. and 9 pioneering partners including 4M, Clue, CollectiveX, GSD Health Research , and US based Trially AI, are launching The Persons Project to end this deadly data gap. Their mission: build the first comprehensive women’s health research engine that treats female biology as the norm, not the exception.

The Persons Project’s first move: to demonstrate, within 6 months, how a united multi-sector effort can set a new standard for inclusive, sex and gender aware, health research through inclusive data strategies and partnership. By demonstrating exactly how sex-specific data improves treatment outcomes, and profits, they’re speaking the industry’s language.

Participating organizations will contribute their expertise in areas such as:

• Domain expertise and relevant resources to address the sex and gender data gap.
• Feedback and insights to inform collaboration roadmaps that accelerate change.
• Collaborative design and planning activities to decrease barriers to innovation.
• Support for public communications efforts to address systemic knowledge gaps.

Of the project, Amanda Shea, PhD, Fractional Chief Science Officer at Clue, said: “For more than a decade, millions have trusted Clue to track their cycles and help them make informed choices about their health – but the biggest barrier to better outcomes is that women’s health is still not fully understood or prioritized. Through The Persons Project, we can join forces with partners to transform the lived experiences of our community into a collective power that accelerates systemic progress in how women’s health is understood and supported.”

By bridging across traditionally siloed industries that all fundamentally look to support women’s health, The Persons Project has a unique opportunity for impact. “For decades, women’s health has lacked the depth and completeness of data we take for granted in other areas of medicine.” says Katie Baca-Motes , CEO and Co-founder of GSD Health Research, “At GSD Health Research, we are adding female-specific data layers such as menstrual and hormonal status, cycle-linked symptoms, and sensor-based physiology to build the evidence base needed to study sex differences rigorously. With better trial design and sex-aware analysis, we can uncover mechanisms that improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment for everyone.”

“We are thrilled to partner with these research industry leaders who share our commitment to equitable health research,” said Danika Kelly, CEO of My Normative, “By working together, we can accelerate closing the sex and gender data gap to ensure that health systems reflect the needs of all people.”

About My Normative Inc.: My Normative Inc. is a health research and innovation platform addressing the sex and gender data gap.

About 4M: The Menarche Menstruation Menopause and Mental Health (4M) consortium is a global network of over 400 members working across academia, industry, healthcare, and advocacy to facilitate impactful research at the intersection of menstrual and mental health.

About Clue: Clue is the #1 women-led period and cycle tracker, loved by over 100 million women and people with cycles around the world. Beyond period tracking, Clue helps you turn your cycle into a powerful tool to help navigate your health journey by making sense of your hormones and discovering your unique patterns. Whether you want to simply understand your cycle, try to conceive, track your pregnancy, or navigate perimenopause, Clue is your intelligent, science-backed, data-driven health guide. Join the movement that’s changing the future of female health, one data point at a time. Try Clue free, today.

About CollectiveX: CollectiveX is an initiative launched by Stacy T. Sims, PhD (Stanford University; Auckland University of Technology) and Dr Claire Badenhorst (Massey University; Edith Cowan University). Together, Dr Sims and Dr Badenhorst are advancing women’s health through innovative projects in menstrual fluid analysis and female physiology research.

About GSD: GSD Health Research (Generational Science & Discovery) develops new approaches to how clinical research is designed and conducted. Building on a decade of work at the Scripps Research Digital Trials Center, GSD integrates digital tools, biosensors, electronic health records, and participant-reported outcomes to create more comprehensive and representative datasets. With deep expertise in women’s health, GSD applies these methods across therapeutic areas to accelerate discovery and build stronger evidence for better care.

About Trially AI: Trially AI is shaping the future of clinical trial recruitment by matching, engaging and enrolling patients at breakthrough speed and ~95% accuracy.  Proven to multiply enrollment rates by up to 6x, reduce screen failures by 73% and reduce screening time by 91%. Trially AI automates patient matching and agentic outreach from any source – including EHRs, fully compliant with HIPAA, SOC 2, FDA CFR 21 Part 11 and ISO 27001. Designed for physicians, research sites, CROs and pharmaceutical sponsors, Trially empowers you to achieve outstanding results in clinical research.