Founded by Dr. Alisha Menon, Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from UC Berkeley, Phira emerged from stealth with early results on wearable hormone tracking, announcing early findings from its “invisible wearable”, a discreet non-invasive earring-back wearable that aims to make hormones as accessible as heart rate or sleep. By continuously measuring thermal signals from behind the ear, the pilot study identified novel thermoregulatory biomarkers consistent with estrogen, LH, and progesterone dynamics across the menstrual cycle. With an expanded study underway ahead of a commercial launch, the company has opened its waitlist for early access to the expanded study and to stay tuned for more updates.
What Phira is
Phira is a wearable built into an earring-back designed to track estrogen, LH, and progesterone dynamics across the cycle by continuously and non-invasively measuring thermoregulatory patterns behind the ear. Designed to disappear, the product aims to deliver daily insights into the wearer’s hormone patterns, cycle progression, and overall well-being. The wearable is compatible with most earrings, comfortable to sleep in, waterproof, and built for multi-week battery life.
Current wearables only estimate cycle phase from signals like wrist or finger temperature, heart rate, heart rate variability, and historical cycle data, without providing insight into the underlying hormone dynamics driving each cycle. Phira follows a different approach. Built on decades of peer-reviewed scientific literature linking reproductive hormones to the body’s thermoregulation, Phira continuously measures high-resolution thermal signals from the posterior ear, a sensing location with stronger coupling to core body temperature than extremities like the wrist or finger.
In an IRB-approved pilot study, with foundational findings peer-reviewed for a leading IEEE conference, Phira became the first to surface evidence that a wearable can track estrogen, LH, and progesterone dynamics. These findings represent the first demonstration that wearable sensing can reveal hormone patterns, marking a fundamental shift from estimating cycle phase to observing the underlying hormone dynamics across the cycle. An expanded study is now underway to validate the technology across a larger population, including women diagnosed with PCOS/PMOS or in perimenopause.
Why it matters
Reproductive hormones influence nearly every aspect of female physiology, impacting overall wellness today and in the long-term, and these hormones are heavily impacted by sleep, training, stress and nutrition. Yet, hormones remain one of the least accessible areas of personal wellness. Phira is designed to help women understand not just what their body is doing, but how their lifestyle shapes their patterns cycle after cycle.
Dr. Alisha Menon, Founder and CEO of Aurelia Vitals, Inc., the company behind Phira, completed her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley at the age of 23. She is an NSF Fellow, has authored nearly a dozen first-author peer-reviewed publications and brings extensive expertise in wearable sensing and machine learning, with prior experience developing next-generation technologies at CTRL-labs (acquired by Meta) and Apple.
“My cycle never behaved the way my trackers said it should. I needed to know what was actually happening inside my body, not just what averages said to expect,” said Dr. Menon. “The way women understand our bodies has always been limited by snapshots and assumptions, leaving a gap between what our bodies are doing and the lifestyle choices we make every day.”
The company began developing Phira in early 2025 and launched its pilot study in September 2025, which concluded earlier this year. Supported by the National Science Foundation, Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University’s Liu Idea Lab for Innovation & Entrepreneurship as well as Rice Biotech Launchpad, Phira is grounded in rigorous science and clinical collaboration. The company is operating from dedicated lab facilities within the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world.
To join the waitlist for early access to the expanded study and to stay updated, please visit www.phirahealth.com.
Note: Phira is a wellness technology intended for personal insight and is not a medical device. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any condition, nor is it intended to replace clinical hormone testing or medical advice.
alisha@phirahealth.com
Phira
