As director of science for the world’s most popular female health app, Liudmila Zhaunova, PhD, has managed to move to other countries, publish groundbreaking research, and build a gratifying career without sacrificing her social life.
I’ve always relished exploring the world and learning about other cultures. After studying in the UK and living and working in Germany, I joined Flo in Belarus and have since moved to Lithuania and then to London. These moves have been smooth and simple, and working remotely provides me with much-desired flexibility to schedule my days according to my workload and my personal life. Switching from academic research to healthtech has allowed me to focus my efforts on furthering under-researched topics in a rewarding and collaborative setting alongside hugely talented colleagues while still maintaining a social life!
Interviewed by Laura Potter.
What attracted you to working at Flo?
I am passionate about using my skill set to improve female health — an area that’s vastly under-researched. Working at Flo allows me to do just that. Beyond that, Flo offered a number of things I was looking for in my career. I was keen to work in a fast-paced environment where I would see an immediate, measurable impact of my work on society. I also wanted to broaden my skills and expertise and build my knowledge in areas such as product, business, and marketing. Finally, I was looking for a job that allowed me more flexibility, including remote working, which is more feasible in the healthtech industry. Unlike academia, where your physical presence in the lab is often required, healthtech primarily relies on laptop-based work, allowing for greater flexibility in location and work setup. Flo has supported me every step of the way while relocating first from Belarus to Lithuania and then to London. When I faced issues, the people ops and human resources teams would organise a Zoom call to talk me through the next steps. They’ve assisted me with documents, taxes and even the lifestyle changes associated with moving countries. It’s been a really positive experience.
Did the shift from academic research to tech feel like a big leap?
Working in academic research is a completely different world to working in tech. You can read more about what it’s like to work as a scientific researcher in academia vs. industry in my Medium article. I’ve gone from doing research in the lab, using fruit flies, cell culture models or mice, to using big data to better understand and improve female health. Before, I was studying the process of cell division in eggs on a molecular level. Specifically, my work focused on the misregulation of this process, which often leads to issues like infertility, miscarriages or conditions like Down’s syndrome. When I joined Flo, I didn’t only change the focus of my subject; I also changed from using a petri dish and a microscope to a laptop. You have to apply very different skills in this type of work — like coding, data analysis and statistics.
To get up to speed, I attended online courses on data analysis, using Python and R, and sought the help of Flo’s amazing team of engineers and data scientists. They didn’t just tell me what to do — they showed me. This way, I built theoretical knowledge from courses and combined it with the practical experience I gained from working with the Flo team.
How have you found work–life balance as you’ve become more senior?
I first joined Flo as a senior research scientist and was then promoted to lead research scientist, principal scientist, and eventually, to director of science. My last promotion meant I wasn’t just working independently on my own projects anymore. Now, I’m also leading the team, thinking strategically about their development and making sure they are set up for great achievements and success. With those added responsibilities, balance became harder, but as I’ve settled into my role, I’ve found a way that works for me.
At the end of my work day, I close my laptop and focus fully on enjoying my life and taking care of my home, relationships, friends and family. I am really strict about this. Of course, there are busy weeks when I have to do some overtime, but generally, when my day is done, I switch off from work mode. I turn off work channel notifications, and I’ve found that people are very respectful of that. Only in urgent cases would we ask questions outside of work hours.
I also try to go outside every lunchtime to get some fresh air — just a 20- or 30-minute walk. I read that it’s a good idea to give your brain a 40-minute break, and then it becomes more productive, so I try to follow that rule. I’ll have lunch while watching a short TV show or listening to a podcast to give my brain a rest from work.
How often do you get together with colleagues face to face?
I find it helps my work–life balance to go into the office a few times per week. Being in the office all day, interacting with colleagues, and then returning home in the evening helps me to feel that personal connection with my colleagues in the office and then the physical sense of separation from work, where I can switch off and see friends or go to the gym. We have regular team planning meetings, and we also see each other socially after office hours for a drink or dinner. Next week, we’re going for dinner to welcome a new member of our team in person.
Do you ever need to work hard to get people on board with your ideas?
Actually, I rarely hear people saying no at Flo. If I have the evidence for why something might work — user research, scientific evidence, maybe something that competitors have done — I can confidently say, “This could be a good idea, and here’s why.” Of course, there have been instances when someone on my team has had a great idea, but if we’re focusing on developing another feature or tool that will be more valuable for users or will bring in more revenue, that brilliant idea has to be postponed — but it will be reviewed in the next planning session. If you can provide evidence, which is second nature to scientists, everyone is happy to consider your idea.
Healthtech is a fast-paced environment; how do you manage periods of high stress?
I like the fact that it’s fast-paced, but when work becomes stressful, I try to switch my brain off from work by watching a TV show or some comedy. Exercise helps as well. You enter the gym thinking about work, but you leave as a different person, full of new energy, fuelled by that dopamine release. As a scientist, I’m well aware of the evidence showing the negative impact of stress on long-term health. That’s why I prioritise taking care of my health, my body and my mind.
Who do you go to when you need support or advice?
When I need support or advice, I reach out to various colleagues of mine. This really helps as I might approach a problem from just one angle, and seeking a second or third opinion from someone with a marketing, medical, or legal background can assist in viewing the problem from a different perspective. It’s beneficial to work in an environment where we have complementary expertise and skill sets.
What brings you the most satisfaction at work?
Achievements like promotions and publications are great, of course, but the journey to these achievements brings me immense satisfaction. Sometimes, we’ll have the opportunity to run a study that no one else has ever run before. This means we’re faced with a lot of unknowns, so we have to brainstorm as a team to overcome these challenges. Female health is chronically under-researched. Addressing these unknowns really excites me, and when we publish results, we highlight important topics in female health on a global scale.
Recently, we looked at the cycles and symptoms of women and people who have periods aged 35 and over, which few others have studied. We saw, for example, that symptoms like acne decrease, but headaches increase with age. Characterising these patterns can assist people in gaining a better understanding of their health and bodies and enable informed decisions among those who are unsure whether their symptoms are normal or require attention from a health care practitioner. Importantly, our research also provides insights to clinicians to better recognise symptoms and help their female patients.
How do you deal with the pressure of being responsible for ensuring an app used by millions is medically and scientifically accurate?
We have a very strong team of scientists and medical doctors whose job includes keeping up to date with the latest literature, clinical guidelines and diagnostic criteria. We also get advice from external medical boards and scientific board experts to make sure it’s not just an internal opinion but also one that’s shared with people working in the field, from universities and leading clinics. That helps to share the responsibility. I trust the collective brain capacity of all those brilliant minds.
If someone is looking at a role in femtech, what advice would you give?
First of all, ask yourself if you have a passion for female health and a desire to improve it! You’ll be well on your way if your answer is yes.
As for the hard skills, it’s good to know how to look at data, run statistics, and visualise results, but writing skills are important as well. You need to be able to disseminate your results to lay audiences, moving beyond jargon and complex terminology, finding a way to make your results exciting and relevant for non-scientists.
Bear in mind that we don’t just work with other scientists and medics; we work with the legal, privacy, PR and marketing, product, and engineering teams — a key skill is to be able to collaborate and compromise. For example, if there are restrictions from a medical or legal perspective, rather than just saying no, each team says, “Let’s find a solution.” That’s why I enjoy teamwork — people are willing to collaborate to find a way to achieve our common goals. If you’re happy to work with others and have an active, solution-focussed attitude, that’s an important mindset to have in addition to your hard skills. Think about your values and what you want to do, and then consider whether this industry is the right one for you.
Finally, if you want to get a job in femtech, never be afraid to apply. Sometimes you see the list of requirements for a position and think you’re only a 70% fit, but you can learn some of these skills by working in the company or by taking a course. It’s more important to have the right attitude and determine whether you’re the right fit for the company and the company is the right fit for you.
