Meet our experts
Dr Karen Morton
Senior NHS Women’s Health and Menopause Consultant
Karen is a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist and founder of the medical helpline, Dr Morton’s. A senior menopause trainer, she is on the register of the British Menopause Society. After years of dealing with gynaecological issues over the phone, she believes communication technology like Adora can make a real difference to women’s gynaecological needs and tackle the impact gender health inequality has on career progression and quality of life.
Prof Joyce Harper
Professor of Reproductive Science, Institute for Women's Health
Professor Joyce Harper is a leading expert in reproductive health education with a particular focus on fertility, menopause and IVF. She is a professor at University College London (UCL) and is co-founder of International Reproductive Health Education Collaboration and the UK Menopause Education and Support Programme – InTune.
With over 30 years of experience, her research spans the entire reproductive lifespan, including pioneering work on understanding menopause and its impact on women’s health.
Dr. Fran Cappelluto
MBBS BSc MRCGP
GP Menopause Specialist and Adora's Clinical Safety Officer
Fran is a Women's Health Specialist and menopause trained expert. She is also Adora's Clinical Safety Officer and ensures eveything you see, read or watch is NHS recommended and approved.
Ann O’Neill
Co-Founder and CEO
Ann has had an entrepreneurial spirit since she could talk! Now, after 20+ years working in business development, marketing and brand partnerships both in some of the world’s biggest media businesses as well as in startup-land, she’s bringing that experience to Adora. A member of McKinsey Digital Health Global CEO Group, Ann is committed to redressing the healthcare imbalance that disadvantages women and diverse communities both in life and in the workplace.
Ed Smith
Co-founder and CTO
Ed is an expert in disruptive tech solutions in the mobile industry. He has developed Conversational AI for organisations ranging from EY to Deloitte and international banks, as well as working for Qualcomm, working in the UK, US and Far East. When Ann first told Ed what it was like to be a perimenopausal woman both in and out of the workplace, he didn’t believe her! But after doing his own research he was shocked at the lack of information and could see how adora could improve women’s lives.
Donna Edwards
Finance Lead
Starting her career as a management accountant at Mars Confectionery Donna then moved into banking where she was a Vice President in Financial Control and in Fixed Income Derivatives as a swaps marketer. She left banking to set up a dot com and then as a mother enjoyed life as the Finance Director of an innovative healthy children’s food company Babylicious . Now a ‘little bit’ older joining Adora follows this path of working with a company addressing an issue she cares about and of which she has first hand experience.
Jean Ledger, PhD
Head of Research
Jean has a background in academic research and teaching, and was previously Senior Research Fellow at UCL specialising in health service research and evaluation. Prior to joining Adora, Jean worked as Research and Evaluation Lead at NHS England within the Digital First Primary Care and Primary Care Transformation programmes. Jean brings expertise in stakeholder engagement, digital health, NHS policy, evaluation and user research. She is leading a pilot study for Adora across primary care and Adora’s co-design project in Scotland working with NHS organisations. Jean is passionate about improving women’s health by developing evidence based and user-friendly innovations.
Our Story
Ann O’Neill was in her mid-40s and on the sharp end of perimenopause (sweats, brain fog, periods from hell - you name it!) when she discovered just how little healthcare support there really was for women going through menopause and beyond.
Never one to put up with a raw deal, Ann saw an opportunity to change all that - not just by supporting women on their individual menopause journeys, but also by helping organisations to do the same for their teams.
Ann joined up with Ed Smith (an expert in conversational AI) and Dr Karen Morton (a senior NHS Consultant women’s health gynaecologist, and menopause specialist) who shared her belief that women deserved better and good employers play an integral role in their female workforce’s health and wellbeing. Everyone benefits from making the workplace menopause-friendly. And so Adora was born.
WORLD MENOPAUSE DAY 2022
As heard on the BBC
Adora’s founder,
Ann O'Neill, chats with
BBC’s James Cannon about what led her
to set up adora
Contact us
If you’d like to speak with Adora’s founder please email — ann@adora.health
For general enquiries please email — kirsty@adora.health