We’re a uniquely qualified team of doctors, scientists, researchers, and advocates driving innovation at the intersection of the pleasure gap and the women’s health research gap.
We’re a uniquely qualified team of doctors, scientists, researchers, and advocates driving innovation at the intersection of the pleasure gap and the women’s health research gap.
The Science Behind Vella
Vella was founded in 2020 after a breakthrough discovery: nano-encapsulated liposomal cannabidiol (yes, it’s a mouthful!) can enhance female arousal and orgasm. Simply put, we use biotech-powered liposomes to help active ingredients absorb more effectively—delivering support exactly where the body can benefit most. That discovery became the foundation for everything we do.
Today, our research spans the broader landscape of women’s sexual and reproductive health, recognizing that pleasure, comfort, and pain are deeply interconnected systems—not isolated experiences.
Behind the science is a team that blends deep clinical expertise with advanced chemistry. Our leadership includes pioneers in sexual medicine and formulation science, among them Dr. Harin Padma-Nathan, Vella Bioscience’s Chief Medical Officer and the lead investigator for the clinical trials behind Viagra® and Cialis®. Alongside him, our MIT-trained scientists lead formulation research from our Boston-based lab—so every product is rooted in rigor, care, and real-world impact.
Leading Research in Women’s Arousal
Female sexual response is a non-linear cycle between desire/libido, arousal, and orgasm. While there has been prolific research on male sexual arousal, with many solutions—the most famous of which (Viagra®) we have been key in developing—female sexual arousal has been overlooked and ignored.
In fact, it has been so neglected by science that no anatomically accurate medical illustration of female sexual arousal existed before we commissioned a John Hopkins board-certified medical illustrator to produce the drawing. The illustration is free to download, in a range of skin tones, here.
Our Research
Our Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Goldstein is widely considered to be the founder of the field of modern female sexual medicine. He is the director of the San Diego Sexual Medicine and the Institute for Sexual Medicine, and a past president of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America. His impact in the fields of male and female sexual medicine cannot be overstated. He has mentored numerous fellows and current thought leaders, including Vella’s Co-founder Harin Padma-Nathan.
Dr. Parish is a Professor of Medicine in Clinical Psychiatry and a Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine, where she maintains an active faculty practice in sexual medicine. She is also an Attending Physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital and a past president of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health.
Dr. Rosen serves as an adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and is the former Professor of Psychiatry and Associate Dean of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He is the author of the Female Sexual Function Indexand the International Index of Erectile Function. Dr. Rosen has spearheaded the development of contemporary sexual pharmacotherapy clinical trial designs and outcome measurement instruments.
Dr. Kingsberg is Chief of the OB/GYN Behavioral Medicine division at UH Cleveland Medical Center, Co-Director of the Sexual Medicine and Vulvovaginal Health Program at UH Cleveland Medical Center and a past president of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and the Menopause Society. Her areas of clinical specialization include female sexual disorders, menopause, pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders, and psychological aspects of infertility.
Ms. Goldstein is a AASECT certified sexuality educator and clinical research manager. She serves as Program Coordinator at San Diego Sexual Medicine and is the immediate past president of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health.
Dr. Clayton is Chair and Professor of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia, the former President of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, and the current President of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. She is recognized for her work in depression and sexual dysfunction due to antidepressants. She has been instrumental in supporting Vella Bioscience’s successful prosecution of a patent for the treatment of SSRI-dependent female sexual dysfunction.
Dr. Nan Wise is a behavioral neuroscientist, licensed psychotherapist, certified sex therapist, relationship specialist, and author with over 30 years of clinical experience. She holds a Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Rutgers University, where her groundbreaking fMRI research explored the neural correlates of female genital stimulation, imagery, and orgasm.
From 2014 to 2024, Dr. Wise served as a part-time lecturer and researcher at Rutgers-Newark and is currently a board member and instructor at the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute. Her work integrates affective neuroscience, body-based therapies, and the biopsychosocial model to treat sexual dysfunction, trauma, and mood disorders.
Her award-winning research, published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Sexual Medicine Reviews, and Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology, investigates how the brain processes pleasure and sexual function. Dr. Wise emphasizes the vital role of core emotions in health, warning of a “pleasure crisis” marked by rising stress, mood disorders, and declining sexual satisfaction.
Her acclaimed book, Why Good Sex Matters (2020), explores the neuroscience of pleasure as a key to resilience and well-being. A popular speaker and media expert, she has appeared on The Today Show, Nightline, Discovery Channel, and numerous top-rated Podcasts such as Shameless Sex. She contributes regularly to Psychology Today, AARP, and Pure Wow, and has been featured in Huff Post, The Atlantic, Glamour, Women’s Health, Men’s Health, among many other publications.
Committed to trauma healing and public education, Dr. Wise illuminates how understanding our emotional brains can transform individual and collective health.
Dr. Prause received her PhD at Indiana University in clinical science, where she focused on neuroscience and statistics. She trained at Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction. Her laboratory work includes developing and testing methods for quantifying female sexual responses, including collection of vaginal pulse in a case test with Vella. She is currently leading the largest laboratory study of male orgasm physiology to date to understand mechanisms of post-orgasmic illness syndrome. Â
Dr. Francois Giuliano is a urologist with a specialized practice in sexual medicine. He serves as a Professor of Therapeutics at the University of Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines in France. He has a special expertise in neurophysiology and pharmacology of male and female functions both clinical and experimental. He is the former President of the European Society of Sexual Medicine. Dr. Giuliano has, in our opinion, made unmatched contributions to the basic science of sexual function and translated this to the bedside. He is currently investigating the efficacy of botulinum toxin in enhancing the efficacy of PDE5 inhibitors. He is currently pioneering stem cell gene therapy in early human trials for neurogenic bladder dysfunction. He is the founder of Pelvipharm, the premier preclinical research organization in our field. We believe that Dr. Giuliano has no peers among the research and translational urologists in the field of sexual medicine and neurogenic pelvic disorders.
Dr. Simon is an active gynecologist, the former President of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and the Menopause Society, and the current Director for IntimMedicine Specialists. He has extensive sexual pharmacotherapy clinical trial experience.Â
Dr. Pfaus is at the Department of Department of Psychology and Life Sciences at Charles University in Prague and the Center for Sexual Health and Interventions at the Czech National Institute of Mental Health. His research is focused in the brain and neuroendocrine systems in sexual responses. He is a fellow of the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health and Past-President of the International Academy of Sex Research.
Dr. Fodor is Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery, UCLA and Past-President of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, and Past-President of the Lipoplasty Society of North America. His practices include Beverly Hills, Manhattan, Aspen and Las Vegas.Dr. Fodor supports Vella Bioscience in evaluating cosmetic and surgical treatments for the vulva and vagina.
We Believe
Women deserve science that understands them. Today, only 4% of research focuses on women’s health — and it shows.
Pleasure is part of wellbeing. It’s connected to hormones, stress, comfort, and long-term vitality.
The pleasure gap mirrors the research gap. We’re here to close both — with science, care, and respect for every woman.
We Believe
Women deserve science that understands them. Today, only 4% of research focuses on women’s health — and it shows.
Pleasure is part of wellbeing. It’s connected to hormones, stress, comfort, and long-term vitality.
The pleasure gap mirrors the research gap. We’re here to close both — with science, care, and respect for every woman.