"Women get sick differently"

Women die from side effects of medication. Why? Because they can't tolerate them. Why? Because the drug studies are carried out on men. Why? Because women are forgotten. How do you know that? "I worked as a regulator and in order to approve drugs for Switzerland, I naturally looked at how they were tested."

"The fact that around 66 percent of Alzheimer's patients are female is alarming and raises important questions."

I sit opposite her, look into her sparkling eyes and know that this woman will not let up until she reaches her goal. Dr. Antonella Santuccione Chadha received the Empowering Women Award the evening before at the League of Leading Ladies Conference in Bad Ragaz. For her groundbreaking research in the field of women's health. With the Women's Brain Foundation, of which she is the founder and pro bono CEO, she can now apply for research funding, tap into channels, look for international partners, talk to universities, support start-ups and hopefully set up a research institute. Because that's what she wants. Saving women's lives, that's the mission. When another irritated professor looks at her face and asks why she is in such a hurry, she is stunned. "People are dying, I don't have time, so I need all the support I can get right now." Period.

"I actually wanted to become a policewoman"

She actually wanted to become a commissario. To emulate her father, who was a respected police officer in Abruzzo. But he forbade her to do so. Why? "You're a woman." "Then I'll be a human detective, a doctor," I said. Many women found that strange. Why? Because female doctors can't have a family? But that's what spurred her on, and so she threw herself into studying medicine. Researching, not letting up, the irrepressible curiosity, venturing into new territory - she now puts this talent into women's medicine. She works for major pharmaceutical companies worldwide, is a highly respected employee and head of large teams. She also founded the Women's Brain Project association. She works with researchers all over the world, researching gender differences in brain diseases such as depression, migraines, anxiety, COVID, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. These diseases occur more frequently in women, progress differently and therefore need to be treated differently. But why are they more common? "That's the question, it has to do with hormones, with proteins, with microbiomes. Women's bodies behave differently to men's. It is crucial to invest in research so that women do not die, so that women are treated appropriately, so that they do not fail in the economy. 50% of the world's population is female, so a huge potential is being lost. Because women fall ill and withdraw from society. That doesn't have to be the case. If they were treated properly, women could have completely different disease progressions. Dr. Antonella Santuccione Chadha knows that she is not making any friends in some circles, she doesn't have the time or leisure to deal with this. After six years, the association is now being transformed into a foundation. That's a lot of administration. It's a new experience for the doctor. She is getting to know new people, new challenges, but the detective gene she inherited from her father allows her to forge ahead with ever more enthusiasm and tenacity. And sometimes, she even uses her chess skills. The path to the goal is not always straightforward. Step by step, always thinking one step ahead, she approaches her goal. She now has five team members and 60 scientists working on the research. Collaborations with Barcelona, Toronto, Australia, the USA and others are providing new insights, puzzle piece by puzzle piece.

"People are dying, I don't have time, so I need all the support I can get right now."

Recently, the company joined forces with Medscape, a leading global online platform for doctors and healthcare professionals. Potentially 5 million doctors and 15 million nurses will be trained and sensitized in medical training courses. Dr. Antonella Santuccione Chadha is confident and almost euphoric about the support. The large corporations in particular are coming forward and offering their support. In the summer, a major campaign was launched to draw attention to the issue of women's health. The Ogilvy Switzerland agency has implemented the topic in a humorous and well-pointed way (see interview below).

Why women's medicine in particular?

Antonella Santuccione Chadha is fully committed to the foundation. The goal is a research institute for gender medicine. To this end, the doctor has turned down a well-paid job in a pharmaceutical company that she has just been offered. She wants to dedicate herself 100 percent to her research, taking every step that brings her closer to research funding, investors, philanthropists and government grants.

She draws strength from her husband and her two sons. Because the greatest miracle in life, the greatest joy, are her two children. She always wanted to be a mother, that was clear. When she meets her husband, she also knows who the father of these children will be. The two of them marry, although the difficulties pile up. Both families are against the marriage. She is a full-blooded Italian, he is a German with Indian roots. "Delhi, Italy, Zurich, the wedding was a Herculean task," she says with a laugh. But she immediately becomes serious again. As a brain specialist, she was not immune to the tragedy that paved the way for her persistent research.

She loses her first child while still pregnant, it would have been a girl, the reasons lie with the unborn child's brain. She finds it so macabre, her own specialty of all things. She cannot talk about it for 10 years, the memory hurts too much. She writes a book "Una bambina senza testa", which helps the healing process.

Her work as a researcher and regulator and the realization that studies in which only men participate distort the results sparked her anger. The effects and side effects did not appear to be the same for men and women to Santuccione. When she asked drug developers, she received perfectly worded answers. These did not satisfy her. The problem, the doctor decided, must be solved systematically. Worldwide. And so she began her research, founded the association and worked with doctors from America, Australia, India and Europe. The transfer to a foundation and the research institute are steps that the doctor and her team are taking to ensure that women around the world receive the treatments they deserve.

We are still sitting in the lobby of the hotel, I have lost track of time and am completely immersed in her world. But my counterpart is in a hurry, time is of the essence. I let her go, knowing that women's health is in the best hands with her.

REQUESTED

"The headlines should provoke and stimulate discussion."

m&k: Ogilvy created the Women's Brain Foundation fundraising campaign. What insights did you use and how did you implement them?

Ogilvy: After the briefing from the Women's Brain Foundation, the entire agency gathered insights and ideas for the project as part of our internal creative process, which we call "Hippocampus". Our campaign was born from this creative exchange. Alzheimer's is a disease that every family has probably come into contact with in some way. So it goes without saying that there are various experiences in the room. The fact that around 66% of Alzheimer's patients are female is alarming and raises important questions. This insight was used to link the campaign with the issue of the proportion of women.

How did you come into contact with Antonella?

We got to know Antonella at an event where she was appearing as a speaker. After a conversation, she was so impressed by our expertise that she commissioned us to run a fundraising campaign. Anyone who meets Antonella knows how much energy and passion she puts into fighting for the cause. It was therefore clear to us that a campaign for the Women's Brain Foundation should neither come across as well-behaved nor generate pity. The headlines should provoke and stimulate discussion. The fact that Antonella also won the Empowering Women Award this year is confirmation for us that we have a very special partner.

What were the challenges/highlights?

Financing and visibility of such a campaign were a challenge. However, thanks to our networks and those of Antonella, we were able to find solutions. A particular highlight was the seamless collaboration between creative minds and health experts, which is crucial for projects of this kind.

Dr. Antonella Santuccione Chadha has the 2016 Women's Brain Project (WBP) was founded with the aim of investigating the influence of gender differences on the brain and mental illnesses. The core of the research is that illnesses never develop in the same way in women and men and therefore medications also work differently. Dr. Santuccione Chadha's work and impact therefore not only has a great influence on her immediate environment, but on women all over the world. At the end of August, her name was printed on a ribbon as part of the Fraumünster-Katharinenturm concept. 500 women are immortalized there, whose impact in the past and present is honoured.

Chadha has been listed among the Top 100 Women in Business in Switzerland since 2018 and was named Woman of the Year in Switzerland in 2019. She was also honored with the World Sustainability Award for her contribution to the advancement of precision medicine and the Premio Medicina Italia for her efforts in dealing with the pandemic. In 2022, she received the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award in Switzerland, and in 2023 she was honored as a pioneering global leader. In 2024, she received the Empowering Women Award at the League of Leading Ladies Conference in Bad Ragaz.

This article first appeared in the m&k print edition 8-9/2024.