Samantha Zambuto '11, an assistant professor at the University of Kentucky, specializes in the dynamic and growing field of women’s health engineering, and she recently co-edited the first textbook for this field of science. 

The textbook, Biomaterials for Women’s Health Engineering, has 24 chapters and numerous contributors.  

“This is a newer field and is still small, but the passion and motivation of field members is incredible and inspiring, evident by the number of chapters we were able to compile for the book," Samantha said. "Most of us were motivated by the lack of books on the subject. When we started our careers, there really wasn’t much to go on and certainly not a textbook.”  

Women’s health engineering, Samantha said, is the application of engineering skills to diagnostic tools, medical devices, and other technology designed for diagnosing and treating conditions that are specific to women or conditions that affect women differently than men. The field also focuses on digital solutions for women’s health, such as menstrual tracking apps and menopause telehealth. 

At the University of Kentucky, Samantha teaches and conducts research related to women’s health engineering. She also serves on numerous committees related to Kentucky's graduate education programs and has a leadership position in the Society for Biomaterials, a large professional society dedicated to promoting advancements in biomaterial science. She co-edited the book with Michelle Oyen, an associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Wayne State University.   

"I think the best part of my job is mentoring and training students. The next generation of scientists in women’s health engineering are so passionate, and I am excited to see what they can do," Samantha said. 

Women's health research historically has lagged behind other fields partially due to lack of funding. But that may be changing.  

"Women's health engineering has experienced explosive growth in the past decade," Samantha said. "Now, college students can take classes in women’s health engineering at many universities, participate in women’s health engineering research, or join the FemTech sector. FemTech, tech-enabled solutions to improve healthcare for women, has experienced explosive growth within the past decade as well." 

She cited a report by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company that has FemTech's current market size ranging from $500 million to $1 billion with continued growth expected.  

Much of the growth in women’s health engineering and the FemTech sector is driven by women with a desire to "learn more about their bodies and their health,” Samantha said. 

"Many people interested in this field are also highly motivated based on their own personal experiences in women’s health, whether it be from suffering from a chronic condition … or based on the experiences of their loved ones," she said. "Speaking from experience and based on what others tell me, it is incredibly frustrating when you are seeking healthcare for a women’s health-related condition and your doctor does not have an answer for 'why' and does not have treatment options aside from birth control pills or other contraceptives.” 

Scientists in the field want to “answer these questions, develop better treatment options for women, and work toward a cure for chronic conditions," she said. 

Still, there are many examples of data showing lopsided dollars spent on men’s health research compared to women’s.  

"Unfortunately, women’s health research dollars still lag behind," Samantha said, citing a report.  

At the National Institutes of Health, the federal agency that funds biomedical research, less than 10 percent of the agency’s total budget goes toward women’s health research, she said. Even as the agency’s budget increased between 2013 and 2023,  she said, the proportion of the budget for women’s health research decreased. “The National Institutes of Health has tried to rectify and remedy this with the hopes of increasing research funding in women’s health and targeting specific conditions related to women; however, we are still waiting to see major changes," she said. 

Samantha also noted there have been "many cuts and attempted cuts to science funding these past few years."  

All of which could take its toll. 

"With increased science funding for biomedical research, we can continue women’s health research," Samantha said. "If funding continues to be cut, there is concern that smaller fields, like women’s health, will be faced with severe funding deficits."  

Samantha envisions that the book will serve as a textbook for women’s health engineering courses. She plans to use it at the University of Kentucky and expects many of the contributors to do the same at their universities. 

When Samantha is not engaged in her work, her choice of how she spends leisure time harkens back to her days on the Island, where she took ceramics classes with Jennifer McCandless, the former Visual Arts Department head and director of the Sue and Eugene Mercy Jr. Gallery.  

"I really love art, which is something that was cultivated from my time in ceramics class at Loomis," Samantha said. "I like to dabble in many forms of art — anything as long as I can use my hands. I’ve taken metalworking, blacksmithing, glass blowing, and many other art classes." 

She said she also likes traveling, playing video games, and reading cozy-fantasy books, a subgenre of fantasy fiction that is described as comforting, low-stakes stories rather than big battles and high-stakes conflict.  

She will reserve the big battles and the high stakes for advocating for continued and expanded research into women's health.