National Science Foundation Helps Student Entrepreneurs Take Cancer Screening Into Their Own Hands

Visits to the gynecologist cause anxiety in over half of patients. This can lead to delay or avoidance of routine visits and tests that catch cancer, like the Pap smear. When early detection is key to successful treatment, the stakes of getting tested are high.

There are many reasons for this anxiety. One is pain or discomfort with the speculum, the device medical professionals use to view the cervix. The speculum's so-called “modern” version came about 170 years ago. While some tweaks have been made since then, the basics of the speculum remain the same.

This lack of innovation in women’s health stems from a history of bias and a lack of investment. The field of gynecology (and the speculum itself) grew from a place of the most extreme inequity–a plantation doctor experimenting on enslaved women without their consent. Evidence shows doctors and nurses systematically under-perceive or ignore women’s pain, and this is worse for Black women and other women of color. Women with pelvic pain report medical gaslighting and being told to lose weight, go to therapy, or drink alcohol to cope. Research into diseases that only affect men receives twice as much federal funding from the National Institute of Health (NIH) as research on diseases that only affect women. Globally, women’s health received only 5 percent of research and development investment in 2020.

After hearing about discomfort and fear in her family surrounding the speculum and Pap test, Shalom Ejiwunmi, then a student at Perimeter College at Georgia State University, wanted to make a change. She reached out to Sophia Bereket and Rakeb Tesfasselasie to see if the three women in Clarkston, Georgia, could put their heads together and figure out how to improve the Pap test and access to care for women across the world.

After seeing information about the Community College Innovation Challenge (CCIC) led by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) in partnership with the National Science Foundation (NSF), Ejiwunmi, Bereket, and Tesfasselasie began brainstorming how they might make a self-administered Pap test.

In the CCIC, community college student teams nationwide use STEM and entrepreneurial skills to tackle real-world problems. Guided by a faculty mentor, CCIC teams work to create their product. They receive training on different aspects of building a business. Through an in-person bootcamp, they perfect their pitch, culminating in a final presentation and awards for first, second, and third place.

Ejiwunmi, Bereket, and Tesfasselasie described the culture of CCIC as “competing against yourself” to improve throughout. And they credit the networking they were able to do as part of this program as part of why they could take their Pap test to the next level: creating an LLC, securing a provisional patent, and developing and testing prototypes to build a business.

The three young entrepreneurs had a strong purpose and clear vision for their product, but did not realize that they could be the ones to see this through until they won first place at CCIC 2024. Now, Gorginea Care LLC is well on its way to helping improve the experience of and access to Pap tests for all who need them.

It is precisely work like this–allowing three young women to pursue innovation and change in a field where it is needed most–that exemplifies why NSF funding is crucial, especially at community colleges where such funding is limited compared to 4-year institutions. Whether it is to expand pathways in the AI economy, power the biotech workforce, the quantum future, or existing STEM jobs, NSF funding supports the skilled technical workforce and entrepreneurs across the STEM enterprise

Not only are Ejiwunmi, Bereket, and Tesfasselasie working towards economic opportunity for themselves, they are seeking to dismantle some of the barriers to screening for cervical cancer and upending the legacy of racism and sexism in gynecology along the way.

And yet, the Trump Administration’s budget request recommends cutting NSF funding by 55 percent. Gutting the federal agency responsible for supporting scientific research, education, and innovation will harm not only the advancement of science in this country, but also budding student entrepreneurs like Shalom Ejiwunmi, Sophia Bereket, and Rakeb Tesfasselasie, and the communities they seek to serve with their Pap test.