Session Preview: Formulation Strategies for Targeting the Vaginal Microbiome

As a preview of our upcoming The Outlook on Women’s Wellness, Nutritional Outlook interviewed Stacey Smith, DC, Senior Medical Science Liaison at Gnosis by Lesaffre. At the event, Smith will present Engineering Efficacy: Formulation Strategies for Targeting the Vaginal Microbiome, and join the panel discussion, Authenticity in Advocacy: Building Trust with Female Consumers Through Science.

In this interview, Smith discusses deliberate strain selection, targeted delivery formats, and strain survivability in the development of product formulations, as well as trends in women’s health category.

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A transcript of this conversation can be found below.

Nutritional Outlook: Could you tell us a little about your professional background?

Stacey Smith: I was always really interested in science, and when I went into undergrad, I figured if I was going to pay for a degree, I might as well do something really hard. So I studied biochemistry. And then I went on to graduate school to earn my doctorate, and I practiced as a chiropractor for sixteen years. And then I decided to leave clinical practice when my parents retired and I came into the side of the nutraceutical industry. So I started off at a really well known practitioner supplement company, I would say, called Ortho Molecular Products. And I was in the marketing department, and that's where I oversaw my own program and product line as a brand manager. So, pure marketing, but very clinical and scientific, trained the sales team and worked with some of the practitioners on how to evaluate and, and work with patients in a nutritional lifestyle management type of way.

But the most interesting part of my job was being on the product development team. So that's what I really enjoyed. I really liked the science behind the nutritional ingredients, and now I'm the Senior Medical Science Liaison for Gnosis, like you mentioned, where I focus on bridging that scientific research with more practical applications in the nutraceutical industry.

Nutritional Outlook: You'll be discussing formulation strategies for targeting the vaginal microbiome and present on a panel on building trust with female consumers through science. What are some of the key takeaways or lessons you want attendees to get from your presentations?

Smith: One of the biggest takeaways is that the vaginal microbiome is highly dynamic, and it's interconnected with overall health, particularly the gut microbiome, the immune system, hormones, basically all lifestyle factors. And I really just want to address the attendees and hopefully have them understand there are formulation strategies that needs to go beyond simply adding a probiotic strain to a product.

So I'm going to discuss the importance of strain selection, potentially delivery format for those, survivability of the strain, and then supporting the vaginal environment itself, including pH balance, epithelial integrity and microbial balance and diversity, of course, as well. So I really want people to understand and leave with a better appreciation for how the different life stages from reproductive years through menopause really influence the microbiome needs and product innovation opportunities. But ultimately, my goal is to help attendees think more strategically about developing those science-backed women's health solutions that are both clinically meaningful and relevant to today's consumer.

Nutritional Outlook: What excites you about the women's health category?

Smith: I think everyone's really in this, this space of looking at how rapidly the women's health category is evolving. And it's really exciting for me. Many years, the women's health conversations were relatively narrow, but now we're seeing so much more attention being given to areas like the microbiome, all of those hormonal transitions that I've mentioned, longevity, of course, intimate health, mood, metabolic health, and of, healthy aging. So there's a, there's a growing demand from women for a more personalized evidence-based solution. And I think that really creates a nice opportunity for innovation. And what's also exciting is we're seeing more research dedicated specifically to women's physiology and all of those different life stages. So I think it's really helping the industry develop more targeted and meaningful products. It's an impactful category because improving women's health doesn't just affect one individual, it influences their whole family and even parts of their community, their friends, extended family, going into all of their different groups and activities and their kids' activities. So I would say quality of life across generations, even too.