Melinda French Gates

So I know from longstanding health research when I was at the Gates Foundation is that reproductive health is the number one most important thing.

You have to at least do that because when a woman –

has access to a contraceptive, a contraceptive of her choice.

She will space the births of her children.

She is healthier.

She doesn't lose her life.

She doesn't get a fistula.

And the babies are healthier because they need to be spaced so she has enough time and energy to feed them and they get what they need.

So we know that is a bare minimum, but way above that.

When I now am focusing on health because I feel like the foundation's doing that, I'm doing some of that at Pivotal, but I'm now looking at what are the biggest killers of women.

Well, here's the biggest one.

Cardiovascular disease, 35% of women's death is from cardiovascular disease.

And yet, a woman goes into the health system, even in our own country, and the chance she is diagnosed with having a heart attack is very low.

50% of cases for women are missed.

And it's because we think of cardiovascular disease as a man's disease.

Totally.

So with Welcome Leap, we're together putting in $100 million to study cardiovascular disease in women.

And where should we intervene sooner?

What should we look at?

What are the biomarkers?