Mission & Vision

We believe you.

Herstasis® Health is enabling a step-change in the Standard of Care and Quality of Life of women experiencing debilitating and distressing symptoms of the menopausal transition.

Things will get better.

Our integrated women’s health platform will give diverse women the tools to learn, communicate and take action on menopausal symptoms that are impacting their life, and those around them.

There is something you can do about it.

Female,Diverse,Faces,Of,Different,Ethnicity,Seamless,Pattern.,Women,Empowerment

Our Team

Our team is comprised of scientists, engineers, business professionals and clinical researchers working together to create a platform for women to manage their often devastating menopause symptoms and feel more in control of their life.

Barbara Breuner

Digital Marketing & Creative Lead

Barbara Breuner

Digital Marketing & Creative Lead
As an experienced creative director of more than 20 years, Barbara Breuner has worked with renowned brands such as VISA Canada, CIBC, TD, Labatt, Nestle, and Kraft. After relocating to Vancouver from Toronto, she established her design agency, providing print and web design services. Currently, Barbara is focused on video productions for health & wellness firms, including Herstasis – translating science-based web content into user-friendly videos. To further empower women’s knowledge about their bodies during mid-life, Barbara launched the “Am I Menopause? Project,” a YouTube channel dedicated to helping them better understand menopausal phases through shared storytelling.

Jennifer Thompson

Chief Executive Officer & Founder

Jennifer Thompson

Chief Executive Officer & Founder
Jennifer is an expert in the development and commercialization of applied science technologies for impact markets, a hands-on Angel investor, and a governance nut. In addition to her role as Founder & CEO of Herstasis Health, she is currently the Executive Board Chair of CuePath Innovation, and was previously Director and Compensation Committee Chair of Acuva Technologies, and Director and COO of Cryologistics Refrigeration Technologies. She has served as Board Secretary for Enwave Corporation, a TSX-Venture listed company, and Executive VP for Enterra Feed Corporation. In the non-profit realm, Jennifer currently serves as a Canadian NSERC-I2I Grant Funding Review Committee member, and is a member of the UNICEF Canada Women UNlimited philanthropy program.

Dr. Jenna Dunlop

Content Strategy & Knowledge Translation

Dr. Jenna Dunlop

Content Strategy & Knowledge Translation
Dr. Jenna Dunlop Jenna completed her undergraduate education at the University of Toronto with a double major in Psychology and Anthropology. She followed this with a PhD in Evolutionary Biology (Zoology) and finally, an MBA, both from York University. Jenna started her career writing and editing high school science and math textbooks, specializing in Biology and Chemistry. She also worked at York University and George Brown College teaching Natural Science and Biology courses. Jenna has extensive experience in policy and technology development working first as a Senior Policy Advisor at the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and then moving into climate change policy and developing Durham Region’s Climate Change Strategy. She then heard the mountains calling and moved West to take on positions as the Manager of Climate Change Policy and then Manager of Environmental Policy at CAPP, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, and then as Director of Land at COSIA, Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance. Jenna recently left the corporate world to return to writing full time. Her focus has been writing, editing and plain language/science translation for a diverse range of organizations including the Canadian Energy Research Institute and the Oil Sands Monitoring Program.

Dr. Kathryn Fink

Chief Scientific Officer

Dr. Kathryn Fink

Chief Scientific Officer
Kathryn holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley as well as a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California. During her time in academia, she was recognized as a Siebel Scholar, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow and an ARCS Scholar. Her experience in research and development has spanned nearly two decades at all levels of the research process, ranging from conducting plant viability assays as a lab assistant at the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation; studying the fluid dynamics and heat transfer properties of the world’s lightest material at HRL Laboratories; and leading the design & development of a continuous glucose monitor for an angel-funded startup.

Jennifer Vander Zalm

Chief Technology Officer

Jennifer Vander Zalm

Chief Technology Officer
Jennifer graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in computer engineering. She has 20 years experience in programming, design and validation in the field of high performance ASICs [application specific integrated circuits]. As a member of Broadcom’s high performance Ethernet network adapter team, Jenn most recently completed work on the 200 Gb products designed for high-performance virtualization, intelligent flow processing, secure data center connectivity, and machine learning. She now looks forward to the new challenges and application of devices in the personal health industry.  

Solving our own problems.

Herstasis® Health is building a bridge between perimenopausal women, health care providers and researchers through scientific knowledge translation, low-cost point-of-care urinalysis, and the development of a world-class endocrine-based, longitudinal women’s health model.

Our goal is to reach millions of women to help them understand what is happening with their body and their mind, and to ultimately help them have a healthier, more peaceful menopause transition.

Women

We believe women when they tell us about their symptoms, and we believe everyone experiences perimenopause differently.

Together

We believe that women’s health and gender equity can only be improved if we serve and include a broad group of women from many cultures, languages and abilities.

Education

We believe that women deserve education along with affordable, accurate, useful tools to take control of their own personal menopausal health.

Science

We believe that women deserve to be included in clinical trials, with fewer exclusions, to deliver better diagnostics and evidence-based symptom management therapeutics.

Why the name ‘Herstasis’?

Globally, women who experience debilitating menopause symptoms are expected to find out for themselves what is happening to their bodies and minds during their menopausal transition. Along with all of their other life responsibilities and unique challenges, they are also expected to manage their own symptom-related health with limited access to information or trained practitioners.

Women need accessible science-based education and tools in order to be taken seriously and treated individually by their healthcare providers when they report uncomfortable health issues. But where to start?

Using four simple questions or “stases“, the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle, gave us a gift in Stasis Theory, a structured way to think through a problem and develop a plan with someone else in a team. In the case of women seeking help for menopause symptoms, Herstasis seeks to help a woman and her healthcare provider to:

  1. Establish the facts (conjecture)
  2. Give the facts a name and a description (definition)
  3. Provide a personal measure of the health issues (quality)
  4. Determine a plan of action to reduce the impact on quality of life (policy)

Herstasis is building a platform with resources and tools for women in the menopausal transition stage of life to help them learn about their changing bodies and minds and take action with their healthcare providers to improve their own Quality of Life.