The Need
North East Florida
Jacksonville is the only major metropolitan area in Florida to rank in the bottom half of health outcomes
- Child and infant mortality rate ranks as the very worst in the state, as does life expectancy
- Florida has the largest population of non-elderly uninsured women of any other state in the country
- Florida currently ranks 48th for women’s participation in the labor force and 38th for women’s median annual earnings for full-time employment
Women in NE Florida lag far behind men and women in other parts of the state in holding STEM jobs (which are typically better-paying) with fewer than 1 in 20 women in Northeast Florida working in this sector.
Florida has the largest population of non-elderly, uninsured women of any other state which exacerbates the already inequitable access to adequate healthcare for women and their families.
Nationally
The U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rates of any developed country
Women are underrepresented in all stages of the Innovation lifecycle
- Less than 13% of U.S. patent holders are women
- Less than 3% of venture funding goes into women founded companies and less than 1% into minority led
Less than 2% of the global healthcare pipeline is focused on conditions beyond oncology that are largely specific to women
80% of healthcare workers are women and they are leaving the workforce in droves due to physical and mental health conditions
- Projected by 2025, there will be a shortage of 450,000 nurses
Globally
93% of the most underfunded health conditions in the world affect mainly women.
With less than 2% of the global healthcare pipeline focused on women’s health beyond oncology, there is tremendous opportunity to better understand the physiological and anatomical differences to reduce adverse drug reactions and improve medical treatment outcomes. While certain medical conditions disproportionately affect women like Coronary Artery Disease, Dementia, and Rheumatoid Arthritis, there are still millions of men who suffer from these under-researched medical conditions and who could benefit greatly from new methods for prevention and treatment. Even in female-specific medical conditions like fertility & maternal mortality (U.S. ranks highest among all developed countries), improved outcomes have cascading effects for families and children.