Empowering Change: BISA Attends Women’s Health Innovation Summit in Boston 2024

Written By Breast Implant Safety Alliance

BISA Founder Maria Gmitro and VP Sarah Beckcom attended the Women's Health Innovation Summit with over 600 attendees, 30+ investors, 3 days of phenomenal content with dozens of connections made.

WHY DID WE ATTEND?

Held in Boston, MA on September 23rd through the 25th, the Women's Health Innovation Summit 2024 was focused on addressing the unique health needs of women and brought together experts, innovators, and advocates in the field. We attended the Women's Health Innovation Summit because we have identified a gap in our healthcare system and we know if we want to get the job done right, we need to find the right people to help champion it. Every woman is at risk for breast cancer and you never know when you or someone you love will be faced with decisions about breast implants. Awareness is not reaching those that need it despite challenging and advocating for better, which is why BISA was formed. The Women’s Health Innovation Summit was a great place to learn, make great connections and feel empowered.

“A woman’s health is her capital.”
— Harriet Beecher Stowe

WHAT DID WE DO?

  • We heard from leading voices in women’s health, including scientists and entrepreneurs and professionals in health policy and regulation who discussed current trends and future challenges.

  • We learned about policies that impact women’s health and learned how we can get involved in advocacy efforts.

  • We networked with other professionals, advocates, and innovators who share our passion for women's health and had the opportunity to form partnerships and share ideas.

  • We discovered innovation featuring startups and organizations that are making a difference in women's healthcare.

  • We participated in discussions about policies that impact women’s health and learned how we can partner to get involved in women’s health advocacy efforts.

It was exciting to see Cambridge FemTech post our bracelet & card on social media.

BISA is not a company with a product to sell. We are a group of accidental advocates with a small but growing grassroots nonprofit organization trying to solve a healthcare problem. To make the most impact in a short amount of time with no budget, we brought the Swiftie mindset and gave out our handmade friendship bracelets along with our business cards. Our business cards had a QR code that linked to a few impactful pages including our Breast Implant Safety Quiz, Why We Need Help, and Things to Know About Breast Implants in 2024. The quiz was helpful in sparking conversation and the bracelets were a big hit.

We enjoyed making connections with women of diverse backgrounds and as well as men that focus on women’s health and innovation. You can learn more and access all of these pages on our BISA Quick Links.

A FEW KEY TAKEAWAYS

It is hard to briefly summarize such an impactful event! We found the speakers to be especially inspiring like Carolee Lee from Women's Health Access Matters (WHAM) discussing the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. Hearing about building a case in women’s health by identifying a medical need through science and patient perspectives was also helpful.

We appreciated hearing Vivian OTA Wang of the National Institute of Health (NIH) discuss the need to “share data and share freely.” That was especially impactful since data from the National Breast Implant Registry is not available to the public and we believe more transparency is needed in regards to patient outcomes for informed and shared decision making.

Another key takeaway was the idea of “the health of the woman.” The health of a woman can impact the workforce, the family, the community and society in general. We often discuss how we would like Breast Cancer Awareness Month to also include “cancers of the breast,” such as cancers caused by breast implants. We would also like to include the overall health of the woman who has or had breast implants because standards of care do not yet exist.

Discussions with Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation and various breast cancer detection and imaging innovation start-up companies were very interesting and it makes BISA grateful to be a part of the new FDA Total Product Life Cycle Advisory Program (TAP).

Meeting Nada Hanafi of MedTech Strategy Advisors LLC and MedTech Color and Angela Frederickson of Spraq Compliance was extremely helpful and we are grateful for the brainstorming and are looking forward to future discussions and support. We are also excited for the new Women’s Health PAC with Liz Powell of G2G and the Women’s Digital Health Network (WDHN) and how this will impact healthcare and innovation in women’s health.

We were truly delighted to attend the Women’s Health Innovation Summit in Boston. We felt seen and empowered. The connections made, lessons learned and new insight will certainly contribute to the growth of our nonprofit and contribute to positive change as we seek to strengthen the “health of the woman.”

INTERESTED IN HELPING US?

When it comes to breast implant safety, women are not receiving the necessary information and treatment they need to keep themselves safe and healthy and we need to make sure that they do. More than 300,000 women a year get breast implants but there are no standards of care for them. We believe in innovation with better information, safety and protection.

BISA was founded by women that suffered health complications from breast implants that they were not warned about, including cancer. We want to be sure others have better information and support than we had. Since 2019, we have been tirelessly volunteering thousands of hours. We never thought we would need to continue this work but we need help achieving our goal of keeping women safe, healthy and informed. Read more who we are and our mission on our website and why we need help now. Your help can be life saving for for women.

We are seeking forward-thinking donors and sponsors to join us! By partnering with us, sponsors will not only have the opportunity to be at the forefront of a major healthcare shift, but they will also have the chance to align their brand with a cause that resonates with millions of women worldwide. Imagine the impact of your support on the lives of women who can now feel confident and empowered, knowing that their health and well-being are our top priority. Together, we can challenge the status quo, drive innovation safely, and make a real difference in women's health.

Are you ready to make history? Join us and let's show the world what true empowerment looks like. Invest in us. Sponsor us. Partner with us. Volunteer with us. Let's change the game together. Fill out our form now and be sure to visit our BISA Quick Links to learn more.

About Breast Implant Safety Alliance (BISA)
The Breast Implant Safety Alliance (BISA) is the largest organization of board-certified patient advocates and subject matter experts in the world dedicated to patient and consumer safety relating to breast implants. Representing the millions of individuals worldwide that currently have, had, or are considering breast implants, the alliance is a non-industry funded leading authority focused on providing balanced, evidence-based information for informed decision making about breast implant surgery and related issues. Founded in 2019 by women, BISA is a grassroots organization led by volunteers who do not receive a salary for their work.

Contact: Maria Gmitro, President | maria@bisanonprofit.org

Breast Implant Safety Alliance https://bisanonprofit.org
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