The Vaginal Microbiome Consortium, or the VMC, established in 2007, consists of a group of researchers, clinicians, statisticians, and geneticists who study the impact of the vaginal microbiome on women’s health. Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia operates the VMC. The United States National Institutes of Health, or the NIH, funds the VMC’s ongoing project called the Vaginal Microbiome Project. Thousands of women have contributed samples for use in research studies by the VMC, which its members have used to research the communities of microorganisms that live in the vagina. A balanced vaginal microbiome can decrease the risk of preterm birth and sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, and pelvic diseases, which helps support women’s health. Researchers can use the VMC’s findings to develop genetic sequence testing for pregnant women to predict preterm birth, which accounted for 10.4 percent of live births in the United States in 2023. The VMC’s research in reproductive health has allowed physicians to prepare birth and treatment plans that improve maternal and infant health and survival.

Metformin hydrochloride, hereafter metformin, is a medication that doctors prescribe to treat type 2 diabetes, a condition where the body fails to respond effectively to the hormone insulin, leading to high blood sugar levels. In 1922, Emil Werner and James Bell, chemists working at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, were among the first to synthesize a compound with metformin’s modern chemical formula, namely dimethylbiguanide. At first, physicians didn’t recognize the compound’s ability to lower high blood sugar levels. However, the drug found other uses: physicians prescribed it to treat malaria and flu in the 1940s. Metformin as a treatment for diabetes became popular in the 1990s. In addition to type 2 diabetes, physicians also prescribe metformin to those with polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, as some of its symptoms are similar to those of diabetes. Treating PCOS helps to reduce infertility caused by irregular or no ovulation. Metformin’s wide range of uses has helped hundreds of millions of people across the globe in managing diabetes, but also in treating PCOS and malaria.