The 2016 MedTech Boston 40 Under 40 Healthcare Innovators

Susan Thompson, PhD
CEO at DS Labs, Consultant at Back Bay Life Science Advisors
Susan Thompson was a graduate student in Biomedical Engineering when she had her first son, Keegan. “As I tried to finish my thesis, I not only experienced the horrors of pumping at work first hand, but also connected with hundreds of new moms that echoed similar discontent” explains Thomson of her struggles with breastfeeding. “Like so many other new moms, I dreamed of an easier way to feed my baby, but also stay committed to breastfeeding.”

After learning from a lactation consultant about the efficacy of hand expression to supplement breastfeeding, Thompson was inspired to develop a pumping mechanism that mimicked this technique. She assembled a team at that began developing, testing and iterating prototypes of a new kind of breast pump. “The currently available breast pumps all use very similar vacuum technology which elicit a range of responses from new mothers,” explains Thompson of the market. “New technologies are needed to provide additional and/or combinatorial options and to provoke more innovation in a historically stagnant market.”

Following a win at the M2D2 $100K challenge, Thompson and her team are preparing to complete a controlled trial that will compare her compression breast pump to the existing standard of care vacuum pumps. “We believe that successful execution of this comparator trial will help to shift existing paradigms of breast pump design by demonstrating that compression can achieve effective and efficient milk expression,” says Thompson. “Collectively, our mission is to provide new mothers with technical and tangible solutions to improve their family’s wellbeing.”