Health Researchers Behind New Exhibition on “The Overlooked Body”
On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, the doors opened to a new exhibition at the Steno Museum titled “The Overlooked Body.” The exhibition demonstrates how the female body has been overlooked in medical research for centuries.

Several years of planning, development, and fundraising have gone into the new exhibition, which this week welcomed its first visitors at the Steno Museum in the University Park.
With a combination of art installations, personal stories, and historical artifacts from the world of medicine, the exhibition “The Overlooked Body” aims to inform museum visitors about the consequences of the historical underrepresentation of female biology in medical research.
The exhibition is the work of a group of researchers from Health, who, alongside their research, teaching, and clinical work, developed the plan, secured funding, and assembled the interdisciplinary team that brought the idea to life.
“I’m truly happy and proud right now,” said Associate Professor Felicity Mae Davis from the Department of Biomedicine shortly after her opening speech. She is the lead applicant for the multi-million kroner grant from the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which made the project possible.

“It’s one thing to help create change here at the university, but the problem extends far beyond the world of research. It’s a societal issue. And I hope this exhibition exhibition sparks a broader conversation about health inequality between biological sexes,” the associate professor continued.

“There are diseases, and then there are women’s diseases”
If you’re looking for examples of how female biology has been overlooked in the medical field, you don’t have to look far, according to Clinical Professor Ida Vogel.
She points out that there is still an incredible amount we don’t know about women’s bodies simply because it has never been studied.

“Take the placenta, for instance. A completely unique organ that is temporarily created and then shuts itself down and exits the body when its task is complete. But despite the fact that we all come into the world via this organ, we lack basic understanding of how it functions and detaches. And this lack of insight can, in the worst cases, cost women their lives during childbirth,” says Ida Vogel.

From her position in both research and the hospital world, Ida Vogel has definitely observed that the conversation about inequality is beginning to change for the better. However, according to the professor, there is still a long way to go before inequality is eliminated.
Examples still abound – from the very concrete, such as crash test dummies modeled after the average male body, to the way women’s health is represented in language.
“It’s striking that we have departments for women’s diseases and childbirth, but no departments for men’s diseases. But this aligns with the structural issue that male biology has been regarded as the standard, while the female body is seen as something that deviates. A kind of afterthought,” explains Ida Vogel.

“Endometriosis is as common as diabetes, but few know about it”
The exhibition also includes an installation on endometriosis – a condition that affects up to one in ten women but is still relatively unknown to many.
“Historically, women have had to endure being ill without answers or help,” explained Felicity Mae Davis. “Today, we know that women spend up to 25% more of their lives in poor health compared to men. That alone should be reason enough to address the systemic blindness that has marginalized women’s health,” she continued.

The exhibition rolls out in two phases
The opening of the exhibition marks just the beginning of a multi-year process. Over the next year, workshops will be held for young people aged 13-19, who will become co-creators of the exhibition’s second phase, which opens on March 8, 2026.


These workshops will allow young participants to contribute their perspectives and questions, which will be included in the further development of the exhibition.
“This is just the beginning. We hope this exhibition will serve as a springboard for more conversations, more research, and most importantly – action,” said Felicity Mae Davis.
“We believe the exhibition is relevant for everyone, regardless of gender, age, or background. We want to reach as many people as possible. And we hope the exhibition both challenges, informs, and creates a basis for discussion,” concluded Felicity Mae Davis.
See more photos from the opening
Contact
Associate Professor Felicity Mae Davis
Aarhus University, Department of Biomedicine
Phone: (+45) 41 21 00 65
Email: felicity@biomed.au.dk
Clinical Professor Ida Vogel
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine
Aarhus University Hospital – Women’s Diseases and Childbirth
Phone: (+45) 31 52 31 56
Email: iv@clin.au.dk