Theory of Change - How Ovum is closing the health data gap

In the Theory of Change series, we break down Giant Leap’s impact thesis for each investment and share how we think they’re changing the world through tackling our most pressing problems. Check out our Starter Guide to Theory of Change for more context.

Ovum is an AI-driven health assistant built for women so that they can better understand, manage and take control of their health, guided by intelligent, personalised insights with privacy at its core. 

Founder and CEO Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks built Ovum after seeing the failings caused by the health data gap from both sides of the healthcare system first hand – both as a doctor and as a patient. Using her clinical expertise and designed alongside leaders in women’s health, Ovum is democratising quality care for women and addressing the lack of diverse health datasets globally. 

Giant Leap’s Impact Thesis 

The Theory of Change for our investment in Ovum 

If Giant Leap supports Ovum with values-aligned capital, then Ovum’s AI-powered personal health assistant will be able to enable millions of women, non-binary and gender diverse people to track their longitudinal health data and receive access to personalised, high quality care, thereby helping to close the health data gap. 

Impact metrics 

• Number of users reporting improved engagement in preventative health behaviour
• Number of users reporting improved health outcomes 

You can read more about Ovum’s raise here.

‍Creating systemic change through access to data

‍The health data gap refers to the fundamental lack of research and clinical data that adequately reflects the physiology, healthcare needs and experiences of people assigned female at birth, intersex people and individuals who are not cisgender male. 

As we shared in our recent deep dive, our healthcare systems are built on the false assumption that male health and physiology are the standard. This has resulted in women’s unique health concerns remaining under-researched, misunderstood and frequently dismissed. As a result, women face longer diagnostic delays, fewer available treatments, less effective treatments when they are available, and exposure to a myriad of preventable health risks. 

This is no small problem. The data gap contributes to the 75 million years of life lost due to poor health or early death per year – an equivalent of 7 days per woman, per year. Closing this gap would potentially boost the global economy by over US$1 trillion annually by 2040.

Ovum is solving this problem by improving access to longitudinal health data and the accessibility of high quality, personalised care. By providing users with evidence-based and personalised resources, integrated storage and access to medical reports and longitudinal symptom tracking, Ovum empowers users to better advocate for their health, engage in shared decision making with healthcare providers, and adopt preventative health interventions. Given that 34% of the women’s disease burden could be prevented by avoiding risk factors and risk exposure, this is material to improving health outcomes.

It aims to correct the disparities seen in AI models trained on datasets that underrepresent accurate women’s health data, by ensuring its algorithm learns from a broad and genuinely inclusive range of health experiences. 

Ovum also gives users the option to share anonymised data with research institutions, while keeping their personal data de-identified, private and secure. As the product scales, Ovum stands to collate one of the largest and most diverse women’s health datasets, which could improve the research gap at a systemic level.

Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks is uniquely qualified to solve this problem, thanks to her clinical expertise and lived experience with the problem as both a doctor and a patient. Ovum’s content has been curated in line with Australian clinical guidelines and overseen by leaders in women’s health, and the company is currently conducting clinical trials in conjunction with the The George Institute for Global Health and the University of New South Wales.

‍The data gap in the real world

Biologically female subjects – both human and animal – are routinely excluded from health research, with only about 5% of clinical trials reporting on the number of participants by sex, and the majority of animal studies continuing to be based on male specimens.

The outlook is even worse from an intersectional perspective – Women of Colour are more regularly excluded from trials than caucasian women and it is rare for clinical trial data to report the intersection of biological sex and race, contributing to the cycle of even poorer health outcomes.

The lack of data doesn’t just mean missing information; it creates real blind spots affecting everything from diagnostic accuracy to fewer and less effective treatments for biologically female patients. This contributes to women spending an average of 25% more of their lives in poor health than men despite living longer, experience chronic and mental health conditions at higher rates, and disproportionately experience systemic health failings like delayed diagnosis, oversubscribing and failure to investigate symptoms.

We believe that the health data gap represents both a moral oversight and a glaring market failure. Closing it would avoid years of life spent in poor health, preventable suffering, and billions in economic cost. Founders building healthcare solutions that close the data gap stand to improve health outcomes for millions of people while unlocking a multibillion-dollar market. 

‍From bias to breakthrough: the role of AI

‍The good news is that we’re at a tipping point, beyond which lies the potential for profound systemic change. The rapid advancement of AI and increasing access to decentralised health data through devices and wearables stands to transform what we know about women’s bodies and health needs, identifying previously overlooked patterns and forging new pathways for genuinely representative diagnostics and treatment options. 

The first essential step towards realising this future is closing the data gap. AI models trained on historical medical data will reflect and amplify the inherent biases reflected in those datasets, perpetuating the cycle in which diagnostic and treatment interventions fail to meet the needs of at least half the population. 

The place to start is therefore with the data collection itself, and our search for the greatest opportunities for creating a systemic shift in the way the health system collates and utilises personal health data led us straight to Ovum. ‍

‍Redefining trust by putting privacy first

‍The integrity, privacy and security of users’ data are core to Ovum’s mission and product design, driven by Dr Ariella’s clinical experience and deep commitment to improving health outcomes for women. 

Ovum’s design centres around data sovereignty – the principle that women should have access to and own their health data – which sits in stark contrast to how the system currently operates. Currently, individuals don’t truly own their health information; rather, it’s fragmented across hospitals, clinics and laboratories and controlled by healthcare providers and institutions. Accessing something as simple as your test results often requires waiting for a doctor to interpret and share that information, limiting transparency and creating a barrier to people fully understanding and managing their own health. 

Ovum disrupts this model by putting comprehensive, real-time health insights directly into users' hands, empowering women to make proactive, informed decisions about their wellbeing without relying solely on gatekeepers of information. 

Further, Ovum’s datasets are only trained on de-identified data and does not share any identifiable or re-identifiable data with third parties – an issue highlighted by the ongoing Canadian class action against Flo, which claims that the menstrual tracking app shared users’ personal health data with third parties, a concern that is stronger than ever in a post-Roe v Wade world.

‍What’s next for Ovum 

‍After comprehensive beta testing, Ovum’s product will be launching to the public in the coming months. Sign up for early access here. 

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‍A note on language: In this article, we use “women’s health” to encompass health concerns specific to individuals assigned female at birth (‘AFAB’), regardless of gender identity. We acknowledge that not all individuals with AFAB physiology identify as women and recognise the importance of healthcare that is inclusive and responsive to the needs of intersex, trans, non-binary and gender diverse communities. We also understand that the unique healthcare challenges faced by gender-diverse individuals require ongoing consideration to ensure equitable access and outcomes. For simplicity, we also use the term “women’s health” to include those under 18 years of age.