Wellcome Leap - The Missed Vital Sign Program

Wellcome Leap - The Missed Vital Sign Program Overview

Funder: Wellcome Leap

Program Budget: $50 million (total program)

Geographic Scope: Global

Focus Areas:

Women's health

Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) research and treatment

Healthcare innovation

Biomarker identification

Non-hormonal therapeutics

Human disease modeling

Multi-omics analysis

AI-driven computational approaches

Program Description:
Wellcome Leap's $50 million "The Missed Vital Sign" program seeks to transform how menstruation is understood and treated in healthcare. The program aims to address the heavy menstrual bleeding crisis affecting one in three women of reproductive age.

Project Awarded to Wyss Institute:
The Wyss Institute received funding to develop the first human Organ Chip model for heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB).

Project Goals:

Create uterus chips lined with human endometrial cells, stroma, and microvasculature

Replicate both healthy menstrual physiology and HMB

Identify causal factors and early biomarkers of HMB progression

Identify potential non-hormonal therapeutics

Reduce diagnosis and treatment time from 5 years to 5 months

Key Statistics (HMB Impact):

Affects one in three women of reproductive age

Every minute in the U.S., a woman requires a blood transfusion due to menstruation

Up to 50% of reproductive-aged women globally are iron deficient

Women with HMB miss average of 3.6 working weeks annually

Costs U.S. economy more than $94 billion annually

Women with HMB experience anxiety and depression rates 3x higher than general female population

Wyss Institute Expertise:

5+ years of breakthroughs in women's health research

Existing Organ Chip models: vagina, cervix, fallopian tube, intestine, lung

NeMoCAD AI tool for drug identification and repurposing

Multi-omics analysis capabilities

Principal Investigator:
Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D. (Wyss Founding Director)

Related Wyss Initiative:
Women's Health Catalyst at the Wyss - founded to support research and innovation addressing critical gaps in therapeutics, diagnostics, and medical devices for women's healthcare

About Wellcome Leap:
A billion-dollar breakthrough engine for human health operating at the intersection of life sciences and engineering, founded by the Wellcome Trust in 2020 as a U.S. nonprofit.