Document Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Oxford Conference Center
Event Website
https://oxfordicsb.org/
Start Date
22-4-2026 11:30 AM
End Date
22-4-2026 11:50 AM
Description
Nutritional supplements are widely popular for female reproductive health, but their ingredients are typically studied in isolation in the laboratory. Finished products make claims based on these isolated studies, creating a gap in which impact of multi-nutrient formulas in the real world are not investigated, largely due to high research costs. Decentralized clinical research methods are modernizing clinical trials, leading to affordable, efficient evidence generation in large representative populations. Utilizing a decentralized research platform, we tested the hypothesis that specific supplement protocols would be associated with improved female health and fertility in a real world cohort. We present a novel feedback approach with an open-label real world study (Baseline Longitudinal Observation Of Multi-nutrient Effects (BLOOM)) evaluating safety and effectiveness of multi-nutrient supplementation protocols. The results of this study inform an Encouragement Design trial (Folic Acid, Methylfolate & Infertility: Longitudinal Improvement & Experience Study (FAMILIES)) designed to confirm effectiveness of the optimal protocol. Both studies utilize subjective, hormonal and body temperature measurements, and reproductive status monitoring. BLOOM compared 6 supplement protocols, including combinations of a prenatal vitamin, fish oil, CoQ10, alpha-inositol, a probiotic, and collagen. 432 women completed BLOOM across 5 months; 198 were 70%+ compliant. 60% opted for a prenatal and fish oil protocol, 80% of whom were cycling or pregnant. Cycling women taking the prenatal and fish oil reported significantly lower stress, fatigue, and menstrual-cycle symptoms, and increased restedness. Supplementation was associated with 92 conceptions, 25% more than the age-distribution expected number. Adverse events were rare, consisting of digestive symptoms. The FAMILIES trial will target proception, using validated measures of stress, sleep, and wearable tracking for sleep and fertility.
Recommended Citation
Tan, Belinda; Grant, Azure; and Barmmer, Ayla, "Real World Fertility: From Participatory Research to Clinical Trial" (2026). Oxford ICSB. 21.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/icsb/2026_ICSB/Schedule/21
Publication Date
April 2026
Accessibility Status
Screen reader accessible, Searchable text
Included in
Real World Fertility: From Participatory Research to Clinical Trial
Oxford Conference Center
Nutritional supplements are widely popular for female reproductive health, but their ingredients are typically studied in isolation in the laboratory. Finished products make claims based on these isolated studies, creating a gap in which impact of multi-nutrient formulas in the real world are not investigated, largely due to high research costs. Decentralized clinical research methods are modernizing clinical trials, leading to affordable, efficient evidence generation in large representative populations. Utilizing a decentralized research platform, we tested the hypothesis that specific supplement protocols would be associated with improved female health and fertility in a real world cohort. We present a novel feedback approach with an open-label real world study (Baseline Longitudinal Observation Of Multi-nutrient Effects (BLOOM)) evaluating safety and effectiveness of multi-nutrient supplementation protocols. The results of this study inform an Encouragement Design trial (Folic Acid, Methylfolate & Infertility: Longitudinal Improvement & Experience Study (FAMILIES)) designed to confirm effectiveness of the optimal protocol. Both studies utilize subjective, hormonal and body temperature measurements, and reproductive status monitoring. BLOOM compared 6 supplement protocols, including combinations of a prenatal vitamin, fish oil, CoQ10, alpha-inositol, a probiotic, and collagen. 432 women completed BLOOM across 5 months; 198 were 70%+ compliant. 60% opted for a prenatal and fish oil protocol, 80% of whom were cycling or pregnant. Cycling women taking the prenatal and fish oil reported significantly lower stress, fatigue, and menstrual-cycle symptoms, and increased restedness. Supplementation was associated with 92 conceptions, 25% more than the age-distribution expected number. Adverse events were rare, consisting of digestive symptoms. The FAMILIES trial will target proception, using validated measures of stress, sleep, and wearable tracking for sleep and fertility.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/icsb/2026_ICSB/Schedule/21
Comments
Belinda Tan, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist, digital health pioneer, and Co-Founder and Co-CEO of People Science, a public benefit company dedicated to advancing evidence generation in health, complementary medicine, and food-as-medicine. The People Science platform, Chloe, enables evidence generation that bridges pathogenesis and salutogenesis. Trained in Immunology, Dermatology, and Dermatopathology, Dr. Tan has dedicated her career to bridging clinical research with scalable technology. Before People Science, she co-founded Science 37, a leader in decentralized clinical trials, and helped launch DirectDerm, expanding teledermatology access nationwide. She is board-certified in dermatology and dermatopathology, holds degrees from MIT and UCLA, and has served as a clinical investigator and professor at Harbor-UCLA. She currently serves on several advisory boards, including the Beneficial Plant Research Association, and champions inclusive, consumer-centered research from her home base in Venice Beach, California. She believes that People + Plants will save the world.
This research is sponsored by FullWell, LLC, Boston, MA.
Belinda Tan, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist, digital health pioneer, and Co-Founder and Co-CEO of People Science, a public benefit company dedicated to advancing evidence generation in health, complementary medicine, and food-as-medicine. The People Science platform, Chloe, enables evidence generation that bridges pathogenesis and salutogenesis. Trained in Immunology, Dermatology, and Dermatopathology, Dr. Tan has dedicated her career to bridging clinical research with scalable technology. Before People Science, she co-founded Science 37, a leader in decentralized clinical trials, and helped launch DirectDerm, expanding teledermatology access nationwide. She is board-certified in dermatology and dermatopathology, holds degrees from MIT and UCLA, and has served as a clinical investigator and professor at Harbor-UCLA. She currently serves on several advisory boards, including the Beneficial Plant Research Association, and champions inclusive, consumer-centered research from her home base in Venice Beach, California. She believes that People + Plants will save the world.