With Demo Day only about a month away, we’d like to introduce you to some of our startups competing for seed funding totaling $150,000. Many of our startups are pursuing the fields of medtech & biotech, and they’re inspired by their love of science and engineering to create solutions to real-world problems.
In this blog you’ll meet one of those startups, Brystech, a team creating a device that makes breast cancer screenings not only more accessible, but wayyy more comfortable. Brystech is made up of senior biomedical engineering students Jemimah Aslarona, Tala Azar, Alex Chalco, Merin Sabu, and Kiara Smith. This is how they got started:
Jemimah Aslarona: Last summer, Kiara, Tala, and I were part of a competition at Coulter College for rising BME seniors. We were given a prompt–bridging gaps in disparities in breast cancer incidents and mortalities–half of the summer to research it, and at the beginning of August, we went to Atlanta to attend a 3-day incubator program to come up with a solution for the problem prompt.
Katherine Olives: And you all worked together on this?
JA: We were expected to work with only students from our school, but we were on a team with others. Everyone started with the same prompt, and all of us were from very different urban and rural areas, and surprisingly, we all came up with the same notion: no matter where they live, women are not getting detection or screening processes enough.
Tala Azar: The reason women weren’t getting screened really depended on where they were, whether they had health insurance, or if could take off of work to go get screened. We realized that we could create a device to mitigate this issue.
JA: The device we we’re working on now was from my group–we won the pitch for that competition. Come the beginning of our senior year, that idea stuck with us, and even though we all have different senior design projects, we thought we should enter this into the Venture Competition at the Zahn Center.
Merin Sabu: We realized this is a social problem and thought, let’s try to solve it. The three of us kind of spontaneously started talking about it, we talked about it in a Shake Shack, actually, and we got enthusiastic about it. That’s how Brystech was born. We applied, we got in, and here we are.
KO: And how far along are you? Are you working on the prototype now?
Alex Chalco: Currently we’re building the first aspect of the device, it’s an inflatable version that uses an ultrasound transducer. It provides the needed pressure to take an image without the pain. The device will image the breast tissue for any abnormality.
KO: Without the pain? That’s a huge step up from current practices.
JA: Exactly. Women’s health isn’t well-funded or well-researched in my opinion. One of the women we interviewed actually said to us that if a woman had invented the mammogram machine, it would be more comfortable. With medicine still a male-dominated industry, there haven’t been a lot of innovations around women’s healthcare. We’re trying to change that and build something that has more of a natural shape.
Kiara Smith: But possibly the biggest reason that we need to make this happen is to make breast screening more accessible. You can’t just go to any doctor to get a mammogram, you have to go to a facility with the machine. Often, women have to go to their physician first, then get recommended, then they’re sent somewhere else, then they finally schedule the exam. For example, people I’ve spoken to who live in Maine have to travel hours to get mammograms. By bringing the device to primary care physicians and OB GYNs, you can get scanned there during a routine visit.
KO: It sounds like you’re getting a lot of research done and you really know your audience. Has it been difficult to get customer interviews?
MS: When we started interviewing, we went to users, women who we thought would be getting screened. We targeted women from age 20 and up, and one of the most difficult things was not knowing what responses we’d get. I had no idea how open individuals would be, but it got easier. Most women were easy to talk to and more open to us, but we realized through our user research we should be talking to physicians and OB GYNs too. We need to talk to doctors, they’re the ones who have been conducting exams, and they’ll eventually purchase our device.
TA: The main reason we talked to women first is because we wanted to learn why they weren’t getting mammograms. We found out that many people didn’t know alternatives to breast cancer screenings, and when they did, they weren’t readily available.
MS: When I talked to women above the age of 20, they didn’t know what they were looking for in a self-exam. And honestly, it didn’t matter if that person had a PhD or a high school education, none of them felt like they were knowledgeable enough.
TA: We interviewed a lot of health clinics and people from lower income backgrounds, and we learned that it’s hard to take days off to go get a mammogram, especially if you’re working for an hourly wage. For whatever reason, the roles of a woman in a family, it’s hard for women to put their health first. They put off going to the clinic or physician, and we’re trying to make it easier for them.
KS: However, we noticed that if they had a family history or a personal experience with breast cancer, they were more likely to get screened. But still, those individuals might stop going regularly. I had an aunt that passed away from breast cancer. She used to get screened for it regularly, but then she stopped, she just figured that it would be fine, but then she was diagnosed with Stage Four.
MS: Many of my friends’ moms had breast cancer–they were getting regularly screened, and because of early detection, they were able to catch it. Granting better access to all women could mean a longer life.
KO: Your mission is truly inspiring, and to be honest, all of you are inspiring. It’s not easy to be a woman in STEM (and Alex, I know you’re not a woman but I’m glad you’re an ally and honestly STEM isn’t easy period). Do you have advice for other young women, or young people in general pursuing a career in STEM?
JA: Personally I would say, broaden your horizons, we’re bio-engineers, we’re jacks of all trades, we learn a little bit of everything, but you never know what you’ll like until you try it. Even just stepping out of your comfort zone a bit–if you want to pursue STEM, try to be as well-rounded as you can. I’ve had internships that weren’t in this field and I’ve added those skills to my resume.
TA: For me it was important to find people who are working in this field, I used to go to panels and talks so that I could explore all of my options. Finding ways to pursue what you want is important.
MS: Talking to people and getting involved is a big deal. You never know how others’ points of view will spark an idea of your own.
AC: Make a lot of friends because they help out. It’s hard to do this on your own, and it’s helpful to think about new angles and new perspectives–parts of life that you didn’t know before.
KS: Be open to new opportunities. If something comes your way, be open to trying it out, because you never know where it’ll take you.
KO: I love it! Now I promise I’ll let you get back to work…. But first–are you excited for Demo Day?
JA: We are, but we’re nervous about getting our device done. We’re excited to meet people, get our name out there, get opinions about how people receive our device. At Coulter, people thought we were in a fashion competition–it’ll be interesting to see what people think.
TA: We’re trying to change the norm of breast cancer screening, and I’m eager to see if individuals are open to changing the cycle.
KS: And of course I think we all want to hear more stories. It makes us that more motivated.
If you have a story to share, get in touch with the Brystech team at brystech@zahncenternyc.com. You can also follow them on Instagram (@Brystech) & Twitter (@Brystech_Inc). Don’t miss them at Demo Day–make sure to RSVP here!
