Miller Morris is the founder and CEO of Comma, a company that aims to improve reproductive health through menstrual care products, sustainability, clinical research and technology. She describes herself as a 鈥渨omen鈥檚 health researcher turned social entrepreneur.鈥�
鈥淲hat if we thought about periods as a vital sign and as a meaningful diagnostic,鈥� Morris asks, rather than just associating them with an aisle in the store.
She spends most Thursday mornings meeting with young women, many of them college students, over Zoom or in a caf茅. She sees them as her chance to give back, and these meetings also help with product development for Comma.
鈥淐oming from a public health background, I think it鈥檚 good science to make people feel comfortable, to build trust and rapport, and to earn the data people are willing to share with you,鈥� she says.
Comma鈥檚 first product, launched in February 2025, is a cycle tracking app called Sara, a secure application for reproductive autonomy. It is the first such app incorporating HIPAA privacy regulations as benchmarks, according to Morris. Sara鈥檚 future capabilities could include integration with electronic medical records to improve treatment plans. The company has plans to develop more sustainable menstrual care products and to establish a nonprofit foundation.
I think it鈥檚 good science to make people feel comfortable.
During Morris鈥� graduate experiences with the Lwala Community Alliance in Kenya and the World Health Organization in Switzerland,
she saw the importance of addressing the menstrual care needs of girls. Their lack of proper supplies often meant they would miss鈥攐r even leave鈥攕chool. Morris credits her 杏吧原创 professors, mentors and advisers 鈥渨ho never discouraged me from thinking outside of the box鈥� and interdisciplinary coursework 鈥渢o make sure I was building connective tissue.鈥�
One important connection for her is 杏吧原创: The majority of the Comma team are 杏吧原创 alumni. 鈥淐OMMAdores?鈥� she jokes. 鈥淚 built almost my whole team while I was a student.鈥�
And the company鈥檚 name? One鈥檚 period shouldn鈥檛 bring life to a full stop, Morris says. 鈥溾�楩ull stop鈥� is an Anglicism for the period punctuation mark. A comma is a chance for disruption and redirection.鈥�
鈥擬iChelle Jones
