AthenaBIO: The first Science-First Ecosystem for Women’s Health R&D

Complex matters sometimes just need simple headlines and a recent Endpoints on a new venture at Yale made us think. Oh wow, we did that!

If this was our headline it would read: AthenaBIO created a new model to spin-out biotech startup out of academia and bridge the women’s health “valley of death”.

AthenaBIO (formerly known as AthenaDAO)

AthenaBIO is a science-first ecosystem dedicated to developing and funding scientific assets in women’s health. We focus on identifying high-impact scientific discoveries (translational research) and accelerating them from academic labs into real-world therapeutics, diagnostics, and technologies.

To do this, AthenaBIO:

1. Conducts rigorous scientific due diligence on translational research

2. Funds research with high translational potential

3. Supports academic lab spinouts

4. Bridges academia, biotech, and femtech

Added bonus to stop the scientific gatekeeping: Builds community through education and advocacy.

All our funding came from women, men, and people who believed a new model could address undervalued areas in the life sciences. We have been doing this since August 2022.

Our Portfolio 💼

Science takes time, and it has taken us three years to see that the research assets we hold are in the process of spinning out, or have already done so, some are in the FDA pipeline, and some are ready for clinical validation.

Our Science & Deal Flow team - which we are very proud of - has evaluated over 430 scientific proposals over 5 focused cohorts for women’s health R&D. Our mandate is to fund IP in translational science while allowing the researcher to own that future.

Our Demo Day held in August of 2025 goes over some of the research and startups our ecosystem is supporting: If you want to go deep into research and science here are our select assets:

• Understanding the role of the cGAS-STING pathway and senescence in ovarian aging at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Sevilla (UPO)

• Targeting the Integrated Stress Response to Enhance Ovarian Follicle Survival and Growth at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

• Identifying Novel Targets to Delay Ovarian Aging from BioBanks with GeroAI

• Our spin-out, LifeAhead, on forecasting menopause using clinical endpoints.

AthenaBIO also contributes directly to scientific research. Recent preprints supported by our ecosystem include studies on:

• The impact of PCOS status on ovulatory and metabolic changes during weight loss (Cornell University)

• Physiological biomarker fluctuations across the menstrual cycle (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

• The neurological effects of surgical menopause and sudden ovarian hormone loss on brain morphology (University of California Santa Barbara)

📣 We've also built an AI agent focused on women’s longevity debuting at Vitalist Bay this May!

BONUS: End-to-End Network and Advocacy 🗣️

Alongside the hard science, we built an end-to-end media and communication network. We have:

📚 Published 5 Reproductive Health Reports

🎤 Hosted 100 events across the globe including breakfasts, dinners, Scientific Forums and Summits, as well as sponsored 5 scientific meetings.

🛍️ 1 month-long Consumer Biotech Pop-Up in the heart of San Francisco featuring brands like OneSkin, GlycanAge, and Ovul

📝 1 Fertility 101 Course

📚 5 Reproductive Health Reports

🧬 Launched the dataforwomen.ai Initiative

Want to get involved? You can because we are an open organization! Fill out this form!🧬🪩

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HERE IS A SELECTION OF EVENTS WE WILL BE AT THIS SPRING 2026

Join us for Coffee in Washington this week

Join us for a meet up in collaboration with LifeAhead, a forecasting menopause clinical tool, in Washington ahead of the HHS National Conference on Womens Health! Meet the founder Dr. Nich Gentry and discuss what you are looking forward to at the conference! ☕️

• Date: Wednesday, March 11, 2026

• Time: 11:00 AM ET

JOIN US

Gero AI speaking at FemTech Force Jam

This Saturday, March 14th, Peter Fedichev (CEO & Co-Founder) of Gero AI, the company AthenaBIO is supporting to develop a program in drug discovery for menopause and Daniel Igumnov (Data Scientist) will be diving into the “Biology of Menopause: Separating Aging Types to Find New Targets.” The best part? They’ll be sharing fresh data straight from our collaboration!

Femtech Force Jam, the leading online conference for the Russian-speaking femtech community, is happening on March 13-14, and we’re thrilled that our partners at Gero are taking part!

Join the stream to see how tech is closing the gender gap in medicine!

REGISTER

Vitalist Bay - The capital of longevity is back!

“We are living in an age where aging is becoming optional.”

The key longevity event is happening in the Bay Area this May again, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it! Vitalist Bay (May 14–17) is a 4-day longevity festival with 100+ leading longevity speakers, 50+ hands-on workshops, 40+ activations to level up your health.

Talks and workshops include:

• “Moonshots in Female Longevity: A Small Molecule to Extend Fertility” (Laura Minquini, AthenaBIO)

Over 200 core pioneers in the scene are already attending.

P.S. The first 15 AthenaBIO members to book get a 30% discount + complimentary DEXA scan with the code ATHENABIO

JOIN

Look out for more announcements about scholarships and a pitch competition!

Join us at the Longevity Innovation Forum

One of the AthenaBIO funded researchers, Dr. Joshua Johnson, Associate Professor
Divisions of Reproductive Sciences & Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at CU Anschutz will be speaking at the Longevity Innovation Forum about some of the exciting updates from his research and spin-out, LifeAhead.

The Longevity Innovation Forum is where collaboration accelerates progress, a meeting ground for leaders shaping research and the business of longevity to learn from one another, forge partnerships, and ignite the next wave of breakthroughs.

REGISTER