The aim of my placement with DAMA Health was to make use of my PhD research in an applied commercial setting, and to understand how academic evidence is actually used outside the university. The analytical work drew on a dataset developed through DAMA Health’s collaboration with UCL and Illumina. I investigated whether hormonal formulation predicts the cluster, severity and type of contraceptive side effects, then modelled how a user’s reproductive history, including menarche timing, parity and cycle history, interacts with formulation to amplify or buffer those effects. I produced a research paper, which has been submitted for publication.

Alongside the analysis I carried out structured database research to situate the findings within the existing evidence base, and built a landscape review of hormone and women’s health data for DAMA Health. This mapped 40 international datasets alongside the research groups and organisations working with them, recording access routes, costs and governance requirements for each to help inform future areas of research. I also researched and drafted two clinician-facing evidence guides, on progestogen intolerance and on hormone-mediated immune response during perimenopause, which are now with specialists for clinical review. Beyond the analytical and research work, I helped establish and develop partnerships between DAMA Health and other research organisations, opening routes for collaborative work beyond the end of my placement.

The clearest professional gain was in how I work rather than what I know. Commercial research moves at a different pace: analyses are iterated quickly, and findings are written for a colleague who needs to act on them rather than for a peer reviewer. I also gained a much clearer understanding of the landscape of health research, from startups to big pharma, how data is collected, and the range of regulatory bodies involved.

An unexpected benefit was the informal conversations. Talking with colleagues about their own routes into industry, their current goals and interests, and their understanding of where the field is moving, gave me a far more concrete sense of what those roles involve than any formal careers session, and I left with a network across the women’s health sector I would not otherwise have built.

My advice to anyone considering a placement: agree a concrete deliverable early, but be sure to leave room to take on projects as they come up.