Kayla Osterhoff

Kayla is a neuropsychophysiologist and women's health science expert whose work has been featured on stages and media around the world. Formally trained across the health sciences with degrees in health ecology, public health, epidemiology, and neuropsychophysiology, Kayla has developed a truly holistic understanding of health and how to achieve resilience of the mind and body.

Coming from humble beginnings, Kayla witnessed the true cost and devastation of mental illness in her family. This was the catalyst for her career in the health sciences and led her to study the brain-body-mind connection - neuropsychophysiology.

Kayla was the first in her family to attend college, earning her bachelor’s degree of science in health ecology from the University of Nevada, Reno. She went on to earn her master’s degree in public health and epidemiology from Nova Southeastern University and was awarded a fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While there, she served on the Zika, Ebola, and Covid emergency responses and led the Global Hearts Initiative efforts in Mongolia, Africa, and Brazil.

After spending several years as a health scientist at CDC, Kayla pivoted to full-time research and pursuing her doctoral degree in neuropsychophysiology at Saybrook University. While there, she earned certifications in clinical hypnosis, QEEG brain mapping and neurofeedback, and integrative functional nutrition - bolstering her holistic view of human health and behavior.

As a woman in a male-dominant field of work, Kayla often found that she had to work in a masculine way, which taxed her physical and mental health. Later she discovered that working in this way was not only taxing, but unnatural and harmful for her feminine biology.

Through her research, Kayla discovered a blind spot in the understanding of female health and biology – a result of the long-standing gender gap in scientific research. This was the catalyst for her doctoral dissertation topic - Physiological Correlates of the Female Biological Rhythm - and her organization of the Women's Health Science Group, which provides education scholarships and research grants for women's health science.

A true pioneer in her field, Kayla's novel research and innovations are changing the landscape of feminine health and contributing to closing the gender gap in health science.