Beyond the lab: 9 takeaways from women redesigning global health
- MULTIPULM Editor
- Feb 28
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 4
The MULTIPULM project, a Horizon Europe initiative focusing on integrated care for chronic respiratory conditions and multimorbidity in Brazil, Serbia, and Türkiye, refuses to let its research become another footnote in a dusty archive. To mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11th), we launched the "Women in Science" podcast series during the month of February with the Spotify podcast channel MULTIPULM Voices to explore the invisible work and distinct perspectives women bring to global health.
This isn't just a celebration of representation; it is a masterclass in how diversity improves the quality of science itself.
Here are nine lessons from women making change a reality, in clinics, communities, and systems.
1. Sofia Iosifidou: Impact is a day one requirement
In the traditional world of research, "exploitation", the plan for how a solution survives once the grant money evaporates is often a box checked in the final month. Sofia Iosifidou, exploitation leader at Future Needs, argues that this is a recipe for irrelevance.
For Sofia, impact is not a destination; it is a multi-dimensional requirement that must be hard-coded into the project from day one.
Waiting until the end is particularly dangerous in low to middle income country (LMIC) contexts. If an innovation doesn't align with local financial structures or policy priorities from the start, it will fail.
Sofia advocates for assessing societal and organizational dimensions throughout the entire cycle.
"In MULTIPULM, it’s not just about delivering an effective solution," she notes. "It addresses financial, societal, and policy dimensions from the very beginning." This strategic discipline ensures that when the researchers leave, the care remains.
Listen to Sofia’s episode here.
2. Despoina Ntenekou: Trust is built on guardrails and emotional labor
Despoina Ntenekou, a project manager and grant writer at AINIGMA Technologies, operates at the high-stakes intersection of AI and health data.
She knows that trustworthy technology requires more than clean code; it requires "guardrails" built on FAIR data principles, ensuring information is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
For an expert like Despoina, interoperability is not just a technical term; it is a human right. It is what allows a patient’s data to follow them from a rural clinic in Serbia to a specialist in a major city without getting lost in translation. But she also unearths a deeper layer: the "invisible work" of emotional labor and mentoring that typically falls on women.
This labor is what keeps multidisciplinary teams aligned, ensuring that researchers actively question who is represented in the data to prevent bias. As she tells the next generation: "Don’t wait to feel ready. Your perspective is essential for better science."
Listen to Despoina’s episode here.
3. Dr. Anishta Mehdi Mohammad: Empathy is a rigorous scientific tool
For Dr. Anishta Mehdi Mohammad, a Research Associate at Kingston University, the stakes of fragmented care are not theoretical. Having earned her medical degree in Pakistan, she witnessed firsthand the fatal consequences of health disparities.
This experience led her to unpack a silent epidemic within the scientific community: "internalized guilt."
Women in science often feel a crushing pressure to "do everything well," leading them to adjust their ambitions when career milestones compete with caregiving.
Anishta reframes this challenge, suggesting that the "emotional awareness" gained from these roles actually strengthens scientific resilience. In implementation science, she treats empathy as a rigorous tool. It allows researchers to look past the data to the lived experience of the patient, ensuring solutions are practical and compassionate.
"Potential does not begin and it does not end," she says. "It has always existed and it only grows."
Listen to Anishta’s episode here.
4. The Shine 2Europe Trio: Exclusion is missing data
The collaborative team of Carina Dantas, Miriam Cabrita, and Inês Saavedra from SHINE 2Europe offers a powerful scientific argument for diversity: inclusion is a data requirement.
Inês Saavedra anchors this with the following quote: "Exclusion is missing data." When we ignore certain groups, we weaken the accuracy and quality of our science, producing biased results that fail in the real world.
The trio also highlights the "cognitive load" of motherhood within the "publish or perish" culture of academia. While parental roles are shifting, mothers still carry the mental weight of medical appointments and school schedules, a load that competes for the focus required for high-level research.
Carina Dantas notes that true impact requires "research with, not for, people," breaking down the walls of the ivory tower to ensure science serves the most vulnerable.
Listen to Carina, Miriam and Inês' episode here.
5. Professor Shereen Nabhani Gebara: Shattering the "curfew" on ambition
Professor Shereen Nabhani Gebara of Kingston University has spent her career in the forefront of clinical outreach. She recalls a devastating moment in Lebanon: a free clinic she volunteered at was forced to close for two months because a war broke out.
When she returned, a patient who had been doing well had suffered a stroke and lost his ability to speak because his access to medicine and advice had vanished. This story illustrates the fragility of health systems in LMICs and the absolute human cost when they fail.
Shereen is also a critic of the "dream big, but not too big" mentality as well as societal conditioning which affects young students in her classrooms. She observes 18-year-old women already limiting their career choices based on future family roles, a "societal curfew" on ambition.
Her message is a call to arms: "Dream big, and don’t let anything stop you. Aim high, and if you miss, you’ve still achieved a lot."
Listen to Shereen's episode here.
6. Dr. Sofia Balula & Laura Scherzberg: Sensitivity as a technical asset
At the Faculdade de Motricidade Humana and IST- ULisboa, Dr. Sofia Balula and Laura Scherzberg are turning breathing exercises into "serious games." By using biofeedback, they help patients manage chronic conditions through play rather than clinical chore.
Sofia uses a resonant metaphor: because "women create life," they often possess a heightened sensitivity to the daily rhythms and emotional burdens of patients. In technical fields like game design, this sensitivity is a clinical asset, leading to solutions that are culturally aligned and intuitive.
Laura encourages young scientists to protect the "spark" of curiosity that drives their work, allowing it to shine through even the most technical of challenges.
Listen to Sofia and Laura’s episode here.
7. Anna Palaiologk: The strategy of "why now?"
As the founder of Future Needs, Anna Palaiologk applies an important strategic filter to innovation: asking the question "why now?"
This question forces researchers to justify the viability of their work in the current market and policy landscape. In the new "lump-sum" models of European funding, where quality equals payment, this strategic discipline is no longer optional, it is contractual.
Anna focuses on the project's compliance, stakeholder engagement, and exploitation pathways. Her role ensures that the project remains responsible, on track, and legally sound.
To manage the stress of hard deadlines, Anna falls back on a useful mantra, "I'm not a doctor and this is not heart surgery," keeping the high-pressure environment in a healthy perspective.
Listen to Anna’s episode here.
8. Eva Palaiologk: Designing for people, not just checkboxes
Eva Palaiologk’s transition from Physics to Human-Centered Design (HCD) fundamentally shifted her worldview: she had to unlearn the idea that everything can be reduced to an equation, realizing instead that social systems are not particles and people cannot be isolated into variables.
Serving as a Project Manager and Human-Centered Design (HCD) Researcher at Future Needs, Eva integrates HCD principles like empathy, iteration, and systems thinking directly into her daily operations.
She has successfully reframed standard project management by treating deliverables not as mere documents to submit or boxes to tick, but as meaningful interventions. Before any work is finalized, she consistently challenges her team with a critical question: "have we actually tested this with the real people meant to use it?"
Beyond deliverables, Eva emphasizes that true performance, whether building sustainable Communities of Practice or navigating high-pressure situations, relies heavily on psychological safety, shared problem-solving, and collaborative leadership
Listen to Eva's episode here.
9. Conclusion: The future of science is inclusive
The insights from the MULTIPULM Voices series make one thing clear: diversity is not a "fairness" issue; it is a quality-of-science must-have. When we include diverse voices in leadership and design, we catch the "missing data" that prevents bias and ensures health innovations are actually usable.
If exclusion is indeed missing data, what revolutionary health solutions are we currently overlooking because a voice hasn't been heard yet? The future of global health depends on our ability to combine technical rigor with deep, systemic empathy.
We must ensure that the "human heart" of science beats as strongly as its technical one.
Communication & Dissemination Manager - MULTIPULM/Future Needs
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