Paola Carrillo-Bustamante - Her Body Out Loud
TU CUERPO, YOUR STORY.
Her Body Out Loud
From the first drops to menopause, every body has a story worth telling.
Life gave me two kids—and with them the realization that women’s bodies are misunderstood, under-researched, and too often dismissed. Puberty, menstruation, fertility, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, perimenopause, menopause. Each still wrapped in taboo.
My work is to break that silence. To inform. To help women reclaim power over our bodies and our lives. And to invite everyone to understand female health more deeply, building empathy where it has long been missing.
These are my letters—personal, evidence-based, unapologetically human.
Series
Different lenses for one truth: the female body, out loud.
Why this exists
I’m a scientist and a mother. This space bridges data and lived experience so we can raise a generation that understands women’s health — because empathy is taught, and truth is learned.
Empathy x Evidence
Paola Carrillo-Bustamante, Ph.D
Scientist, writer, and mother of two boys. Founder of Her Body Out Loud, bridging science and storytelling to close the awareness gap in women’s health.
My Story
I’ve always been passionate about health. At 19, I left my home country, Ecuador, to study Biomedical Engineering in Germany, driven by a deep curiosity about how the human body works—and how technology could help us understand it better. I went on to do a PhD in Computational Immunology in the Netherlands, where I explored the complex ways our immune system evolves as a response to disease. Later, during my postdoctoral work back in Germany, I focused on mosquito-transmitted diseases, like malaria and dengue, combining data and biology to tackle global health challenges.
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​But as I moved through labs, research centers, and academic milestones, something else began to surface. The more I learned about disease, the more I realized that some of the most overlooked and poorly understood aspects of health were not far away in tropical regions, but much closer to home—in the everyday experiences of women.
Including myself.​
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Motherhood changed everything. Raising two boys made me see just how critical it is to educate the next generation—not just girls, but boys, too—about the female body. I want my sons to grow up fluent in empathy and understanding. And I want the women in their lives to be seen, heard, and better supported.
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This space is where I bring together science, story, and lived experience. I share what I’ve learned—not just in labs, but in my own body and life—so that more of us can talk honestly about women’s health, and start reshaping how society understands it.
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For those interested in my academic background, you can find a detailed research profile here.