Dr. Barbara Sturm

A Dusseldorf-based orthopedic surgeon developed a blood-based therapy for joint inflammation in the early 2000s. She then applied the same biological approach to skin care and built a brand out of it. Dr Barbara Sturm is an orthopedic surgeon by training, originally practicing in Germany with a specialty in sports medicine. Her research on using a patient's own blood derivatives to reduce joint inflammation in arthritis. Patients led to a procedure called MC1, widely used among European athletes. In 2014, she launched a skin care line applying the same anti-inflammation philosophy, with products ranging from a $75 cleanser to a custom blood-based serum priced above $1,400 for a single treatment course, prepared individually from a client's own blood draw.