The missing data.

The gender data gap is costing women their health

If you’ve ever been told “that’s normal” about a symptom that didn’t feel normal, you’ve experienced the gender data gap.

For decades, medical research has focused primarily on men. Most drug trials were designed around the male body. Many diagnostic tools were calibrated using male baselines. Even the early datasets that trained modern health AI models were overwhelmingly male. The result is that women’s symptoms are often misunderstood, misdiagnosed, or dismissed entirely. It’s not because women are more “complicated.” It’s because the data that informs medicine simply doesn’t include us.

How we got here

Until 1993, women of childbearing age were routinely excluded from clinical research in the United States due to safety concerns related to pregnancy. The intention was to protect women, but the outcome was a lack of understanding of how diseases, medications, and treatments affect half the population.

Even today, women make up less than 40% of participants in many health studies, and the representation of women of colour, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people with chronic or overlapping conditions is even lower. This is both a research and healthcare problem! It means the systems we rely on are built on incomplete data, and incomplete data leads to incomplete care.

The ripple effect of missing data

When women are left out of research, it has a cascading impact on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for women, yet symptoms often present differently than in men and are frequently missed. Autoimmune disorders, chronic fatigue, and hormonal conditions like PCOS and endometriosis take years to diagnose. In many cases, women have to advocate for themselves just to be believed.

These gaps slow progress for everyone. When half the population’s data is missing, the entire healthcare system loses accuracy, efficiency, and equity.

How FoXX is helping close the gap

FoXX was built to fill in what the system has left out. Every time a woman tracks her symptoms in our app, she’s contributing to a more complete understanding of women’s health.

We’re collecting context. The kind that traditional research often overlooks: how symptoms change across cycles, how stress or sleep affect hormonal balance, or how experiences differ across age, ethnicity, and background. By aggregating anonymized, secure insights, we’re helping build a richer, more inclusive dataset that can guide better research and more personalized care.

Our mission is to ensure that women’s experiences aren’t treated as “anecdotal.” They’re data points, and they matter.

The future of women’s health depends on how well we listen to women today. That means recognizing that diversity in data isn’t just ethical; it’s essential for scientific accuracy. When women’s voices are reflected in the data, research becomes more reliable. Diagnoses become faster. Treatments become safer. And healthcare becomes fairer for everyone. We’re not waiting for institutions to catch up. We’re creating tools that let women safely contribute to the change themselves.

Our vision

We imagine a future where women’s health data is as nuanced as women’s lives, where no one’s experience is dismissed, and no community is left out. The missing data is finally being found, not in labs, but in lived experience. Together, we’re building the infrastructure that women’s health has always needed. When women’s data is complete, women’s care finally can be too.

Join us

➡️ [Download FoXX and start tracking your health story] (link to app store)

➡️ [Read more about our commitment to data equity] (link to privacy or “About” page)

➡️ [Explore The Den community] (link to in-app community page)