Liudmila Zhaunova, PhD, is at the helm of Flo’s science team. Since joining the company as Flo’s first scientist in 2019, she has built a multidisciplinary team of in-house scientists dedicated to developing science-backed product features and exploring female health through their research efforts.
Liudmila: The team really has three functions. The first one is to conduct studies to advance understanding of female health. We hold the largest dataset of cycle and symptom patterns across the reproductive lifespan, from which we leverage topics including menstrual cycle patterns, polycystic ovary syndrome, postpartum depression, perimenopause, and more.
The second function is to support the development of new product features and ensure scientific accuracy and rigor, such as in our recent development of Flo’s Perimenopause Score, which is based on a new, validated tool to capture perimenopause symptom burden. We developed this tool in collaboration with researchers from the Center for Women’s Health, Mayo Clinic, and the paper is currently under review and available as a preprint.
And the third function is to evaluate the effectiveness of Flo’s product. More than half of our time is dedicated to this work, ensuring that the product is supported by robust scientific evaluation.
Liudmila: The Flo app includes a large volume of educational content, with hundreds of articles covering multiple aspects of female health.
To assess the impact of using Flo, the team conducted a randomized controlled trial in collaboration with Sarah E. Hill, PhD, a professor in the psychology department at Texas Christian University, US; Dr. Jennifer Payne, a professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia, US; and Liisa Hantsoo, PhD, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, US. All three are members of Flo’s scientific advisory board.
In the trial, the team showed that the intervention group, who used the app for around three months, experienced greater improvements in knowledge about menstrual and reproductive health, as well as increased preparedness for patient–clinician discussions, compared with the control group, who were asked not to use Flo.
This is important as it demonstrates the potential for digital tools to deliver measurable health benefits.
Liudmila: To ensure scientific rigor, we collaborate closely with external experts, including academic researchers, clinicians, health economists, and psychologists. These partnerships — with the 120+ members of our medical and scientific advisory board as well as other researchers from around the world — help define relevant research questions, guide methodological approaches, and support interpretation of findings within a clinical context.
By combining large-scale real-world data with clinical and academic expertise, our goal is to produce research that is both scientifically robust and meaningful for advancing female health.
Importantly, we do not share any personal information outside of Flo. All data is handled in-house by Flo scientists to protect our customers’ data.
For example, in one study we analyzed data from over 19 million Flo app users to understand patterns in their menstrual cycles and related symptoms. Importantly, this included individuals over the age of 46, a group often underrepresented in research but highly relevant to understanding the menopausal transition.
Once the data had been aggregated and de-identified, the results were shared with our external collaborator Dr. Lubna Pal, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale School of Medicine and a member of Flo’s scientific advisory board, for discussion and interpretation within a clinical context.
This enabled the identification of cycle and symptom patterns associated with the years leading up to menopause.
Liudmila: The team continues to expand our research portfolio in areas where there are significant gaps in female health research.
Recent work has explored perimenopause symptoms, highlighting a disconnect between commonly anticipated symptoms and those experienced in real-world populations. Another publication described a health economic evaluation of digital tools, such as symptom checkers, for conditions like endometriosis. Upcoming papers explore female sexual pleasure, uncertainty about perimenopause, and activity levels across the menstrual cycle.
The team is always very busy as our research continues to explore how large-scale, real-world data can address gaps in female health research and support more informed clinical understanding globally.
We are excited to share more findings with our health care professional community throughout the year.