Research
For researchers
Privacy-first women’s health research, with consent at the center
Flow & Glow believes better women’s health research matters. But user trust matters more. Any research collaboration must be opt-in, privacy-first, ethically reviewed, and designed to protect sensitive reproductive health data. We do not sell user data. We do not provide identifiable cycle, fertility, pregnancy, or symptom data to researchers.
OUR APPROACH
How we think about research
Research should help people understand women’s health better, not quietly extract from the people behind the data.
Principle | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
Consent first | Participation must be a clear, informed choice. Research is never bundled into normal app use. |
Privacy by design | Data should be anonymised, aggregated, minimised, or otherwise protected before any analysis begins. |
Ethics review | Projects involving human participants should have IRB, ethics committee, or equivalent institutional review where appropriate. |
Public benefit | We prioritise work that could improve cycle understanding, symptom literacy, wellbeing, or access to better support. |
No commercial exploitation | Research access must never become a back door for advertising, profiling, insurance, employment, or data-broker use. |
Plain-language participation | People should understand what is being studied, what is shared, and what they are agreeing to. |
RESEARCH TOPICS
What we may consider
We are most interested in questions that are useful, responsible, and grounded in real women’s health needs.
Menstrual cycle pattern variation
Symptom tracking and quality-of-life patterns
Cycle phase and energy, sleep, or movement patterns
Period pain, PMS, or PMDD-related self-reported trends
Fertility-window education and user understanding
Postpartum cycle return patterns
Reproductive wellness literacy
Privacy-preserving research methods for consumer health data
Not currently supported
We do not support research that attempts to identify users, predict pregnancy status for third parties, create ad audiences from health data, influence insurance or employment decisions, or otherwise use reproductive health data in ways that weaken user trust.
DATA ACCESS
What research access can look like
Every proposal is reviewed individually. The safest useful format depends on the question, the consent model, the legal context, and the protection plan.
Access type | What it may include | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Public insight summaries | Aggregate, non-identifying trends or findings | Best for low-risk education and public communication |
Aggregated datasets | Counts, distributions, anonymised metrics | Only when re-identification risk is low |
Research-specific surveys | Voluntary survey responses from opted-in participants | Consent language must be specific and clear |
IRB-approved study support | Recruitment or study participation workflows | Requires review of participant-facing materials |
Content collaboration | Evidence reviews, educational explainers, or research summaries | May involve clinical or editorial review |
WHAT WE DO NOT PROVIDE
Hard boundaries
There are clear lines we will not cross.
No names, emails, or account identifiers attached to health logs
No raw identifiable cycle histories
No fertility, pregnancy, or symptom data for advertising
No data for insurance, employer, credit, or eligibility decisions
No data broker access
No audience-building or lookalike segment creation
No research access for users who did not opt in
REVIEW REQUIREMENTS
What we may ask for before approval
Before any research collaboration is considered, we may ask for the following:
Study title and research question
Principal investigator and institution details
IRB, ethics committee, or equivalent review status
Participant-facing consent language
Requested data categories and why they are necessary
Data minimisation and de-identification plan
Security and access-control plan
Retention and deletion plan
Publication plan and conflict disclosures
Plain-language explanation of user benefit
Additional review may be required for projects involving pregnancy, fertility, minors, or especially sensitive jurisdictions or populations.
HOW COLLABORATION WORKS
From idea to approval
We prefer thoughtful, slower approval over fast, shallow approval.
Step | What happens | 1. Initial enquiry |
|---|---|---|
You send a short summary of your study, institution, and goal | 2. Fit review | We assess whether the topic aligns with Flow & Glow’s values and user trust standards |
3. Ethics review | We review ethics status, consent materials, participant communication, and scope | 4. Privacy review |
We evaluate security, minimisation, transfer, retention, and re-identification risk | 5. Agreement and launch | Approved work requires written agreement before recruitment, access, or publication support begins |
PUBLICATION PRINCIPLES
How findings should be shared
If research is published, it should be careful, useful, and honest about limitations.
No exaggerated claims from observational or self-reported data
No implying causation where only correlation is supported
No fear-based or stigma-based framing
Clear explanation of limitations, bias, and context
Plain-language summaries where possible
Proper source and method citation
CONTACT US
Start a research conversation
If you believe your work is a good fit, tell us who you are, what you want to study, what kind of data or support you are requesting, and what ethical review is already in place.
Research enquiries: research@flowandglow.app
Privacy and data protection: privacy@flowandglow.app
Data Protection Officer: dpo@flowandglow.app
General partnerships: partnerships@flowandglow.app
Better cycle research starts with better trust. If a study cannot protect the people behind the data, it does not belong here.