Takeaways from
Winspiration and IGIC

Namaste from India! Sourabha and I, Chandni, joined Swissnex last week and we are two very excited writers thrilled to be part of the communications team here as well as the larger Swissnex family. Just as we joined, we dove straight into the thick of things with two pivotal events—Winspiration and the India Global Innovation Connect—that we believe are crucial to the ever-changing landscape of the world.

PC: Unsplash / xyz

We want to tell you all that piqued our curiosity and the cool things that are happening in India. We’re pretty certain these will interest you as much as they excited us.

Winspiration, which covered the gamut of what it means to be a working woman, saw women from all walks of life—including business owners, researchers, women who’ve worked in government and armed forces—contribute to the larger discourse of unconscious biases that we face on a daily basis at the workplace as well as how a general indifference to our biological differences hinders us from doing our very best in our work.
As women, both Sourabha and I enjoyed learning about the science from menarche to menopause and became aware of how much harder it is for older women in particular when they go through perimenopause and menopause.

We had discussions around microaggressions, bias busting, biological and hormonal changes in a woman’s body, managing menopause alongside career ambitions, and using technology to address feminine health. These conversations seamlessly spilled into the following days at IGIC.

I particularly loved what NIRAMAI Health Analytix is bringing to the feminine health table. Their radiation-free technology helps detect breast cancer even before the lump can be felt. Getting X-ray scans to check if you have cancer itself increases the risk of developing cancer, so NIRAMAI’s Thermalytix screening is as safe and non-invasive as it gets. In a world where premenstrual syndrome and menstrual pain have become normalised, NIRAMAI is truly blazing trails. Dr. Geetha Manjunath, the founder of the company, mentioned that very soon women will be able to scan their bodies like in a selfie and detect breast cancer. I’m considering getting a screening and will report back!

The other thing I’ve been geeking out on of late is Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), all thanks to my colleague Dr. Lena Robra who made some cool drawings and explained to me the inner workings of microbes. AMR is basically when your body develops resistance to antibiotics that fight microbes, including bacteria. India tops the charts of pill-poppers because a) the population is not aware of the uses and dangers of antibiotics b) doctors freely prescribe antibiotics for infections that are not bacterial (particularly viral and fungal) and antibiotics don’t work work on them, making our bodies resistant to antibiotics c) antibiotics in India can easily be bought over the counter.