Transforming diagnostics for women’s health through non-invasive innovation
Hera Biotech is a diagnostics company focused on addressing some of the most persistent care gaps in women’s health by developing non-surgical, non-invasive diagnostic solutions for diseases that uniquely affect women. Currently, Hera is advancing screening tools for endometriosis and cervical cancer (distinct from HPV-related screening).
Launched with just three full-time employees, Hera scaled to twelve contributors in a year, blending full-time and contractor roles, with most working 50% or more. With MDisrupt, Hera added a key team member who transitioned from a contractor to a full-time contributor and advanced their scientific objectives.
“We’re focused on diseases that impact women and are historically underdiagnosed or misunderstood—like endometriosis and cervical cancer.”
— Somer Baburek, CEO, Hera Biotech
As Hera worked to scale its platform, the team encountered two major technical and operational barriers:
The data science and computational biology work inherited from their academic collaborators was a “black box”—unclear, difficult to validate, and slowing product development. The Hera team needed external expertise to untangle the data and ensure its integrity.
Typical data scientists lacked the depth required to work with single-cell expression data. Hera needed someone with deep computational biology knowledge, especially around single-cell and bulk assay design.
“We needed someone who could not only handle the science but explain it clearly and help us make real progress. That’s when we found Neil through MDisrupt.”
Hera partnered with MDisrupt to bring on a computational biologist with deep domain knowledge.
The expert they engaged quickly became a trusted team member. He produced detailed, highly structured deliverables that answered questions before they were even asked. His ability to anticipate scientific and stakeholder needs made a major impression on the team, and led to a long-term engagement.
“Our COO was over the moon. Neil created slide decks that were so thorough and well-organized—it was like he read our minds. He’s been a perfect fit.”
With MDisrupt’s help, Hera made significant scientific and operational strides:
“Nobody is going to adopt a single-cell assay in practice. We had to move it to bulk, and Neil made that happen. He moved us further, faster, and more confidently than any team before.”
Hera has already launched a second project with MDisrupt and is actively exploring additional expert engagements. The partnership has proven so valuable that Hera continues to turn to MDisrupt as it scales women’s health diagnostic innovations.
