Katie’s Notebook: January 22, 2025
Greetings, Gentle Readers,
What a wild month January is. To combat some of the malaise of the cold weather and dark evenings, I’ve been making intentional efforts to be with people I love. We hosted friends for pizza and a fire pit, spent an evening over Indian food and games with neighbors, celebrated multiple birthdays, and have cheered my daughter on at weekend basketball games. I gather quarterly with other Mompreneuers and we kicked off the year making our own bingo cards to both plan and future cast what the universe might throw our way. These things have all sparked joy. In contract, the inauguration and days following this week have me asking a lot of questions about what the state of democracy is going to be by the end of the next four years. I wrote an SOS piece on the federal reproductive rights website going dark on inauguration day which has me nervous for the future of women’s rights. At least Hillary Clinton has a sense of humor about some of the Trump absurdities (Bill telling her to reign it in when she giggled like a kid in church really tickled me.) So at the risk of being basic, maybe January is just a microcosm of the rest of life — ups, downs, and moments in the middle — sometimes all in the same day.
Let’s jump into the five:
Funding: Crunchbase pulled together a list of the most active investors in 2024. The article is a wealth of information on deal counts per firm, the most active seed stage investors, and who lead the raise. If you are looking for capital in 2025 this is a great resource!
Fascinating: The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative just funded a $1 million project to build an AI model of the maternal brain. According to the press release, “At the heart of this work lies the Bowers WBHI Maternal Brain Project (MBP) dataset, a first-of-its-kind resource mapping neuroanatomical changes from preconception through two years postpartum, for a diverse population of first-time mothers in the U.S. and Spain”. I couldn’t find any information about the size of the data set, but I am hoping it is large enough for AI models to be useful. Any time I read something about the changes that happen to women’s brains during pregnancy and postpartum I am truly amazed — women are incredible. I would love to know more about the intended outcomes for this new maternal brain model.
Findings: The McKinsey Health Institute released the Blueprint to close the women’s health gap: How to improve lives and economies for all. The first paragraph states, “Closing the women’s health gap could yield 75 million disability-adjusted life years annually—the equivalent of adding seven healthy days per year per woman—and unlock $1 trillion in annual global GDP by 2040.” The document focuses on certain conditions that McKinsey believes improving will lead to potential gains in annual DALYs and GDP by 2040 including:
Conditions that affect life span:
Ischemic heart disease
Cervical cancer
Breast cancer
Maternal hypertensive disorder
Postpartum hemorrhage
Conditions that affect health span:
Menopause
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
Migraine
Endometriosis
The entire report is incredibly well thought out and I believe will be referenced for many years to come. I honestly wish I had been a part of putting it together!
Image from McKinsey & Company report found here
Food: When I was in graduate school, I organized weekly soup nights for my fellow students as a means of making sure people were fed and had the opportunity to build relationships with others. More than a decade later, I still love soup, and have a modified soup club with some of the original members, even though with everyone’s busy lives we manage to meet a bit less frequently. I hosted this week and made the NYTimes creamy tortellini soup which was enjoyed by kids and parents alike!
Flipped pages: The year has been off to a strong reading start! I listened to The Dutch House by Ann Patchett, read by TOM HANKS. The story is a bit ordinary but her prose is so compelling and I love the way a house plays a role as a main character. It made for a cozy audiobook while taking down Christmas decor. I’m wrapping up A Letter to Three Witches, which is a lighthearted modern day novel that describes the antics of oppressed witches. Their stilted power starts to break loose and causes zany things to happen around town. As with most of America, I am waiting for my copy of Onyx Storm to show up so I can devour the third book in the Fourth Wing series.
What I’ve Been Writing
Federal reproductive rights website goes dark, Digital Health Insights
FemTech Forecast: Policy, regulation and funding, Digital Health Insights
Nurse innovators are going mainstream, Digital Health Insights
Fun Finds
I have been enjoying Emily Amick’s Substack newsletter. Emily is a former Senate counsel turned democracy hype woman. Her thoughtful commentary on the US political landscape and how we can all build a world we want to see have kept me going. She recently wrote a ‘I’m turning 40’ series and I loved her piece, My Favorite Advice for Living a Good Life. I also love the quick hits on women’s health news I get from the daily Maternie digest. This is random, but I needed a new ski jacket and after trying on over 20 options at REI, I landed on this Obermeyer one and am so happy with it. It’s crazy how when you start examining details the quality of things like zippers that don’t stick and cinch cords you can use with thick gloves on make a huge difference. It’s nice to know it’s a purchase I (hopefully) won’t have to replace for another decade.
Note: As a solopreneur I use affiliate links for some of the products I believe in as a means of diversifying my income. When you buy something I have linked to, I may receive a small commission from that company at no cost to you.
