Twelve years ago, dfusion was two people working part-time, running on passion and a modest amount of startup funding. There was no office full of researchers, no patents, no trademark. Just a clear conviction that technology could move sexual and reproductive health forward in meaningful ways — and a willingness to bet on that idea.
It turned out to be a good bet.
From those early days, we grew. We brought on staff. We deepened our focus on sexual and reproductive health in specific communities that were underserved and overlooked. Our technology evolved with the times — from desktop and computer-based programs to mobile apps, meeting people where they actually were. We learned what worked, built on it, and kept going.
Then we kept changing.
The communities we serve don’t exist in a vacuum. Health is shaped by education, economic opportunity, environment, and access — the social determinants that determine so much about a person’s life trajectory. That understanding pushed us to broaden our lens. We began focusing on K-12 education, specifically on empowering young people through STEM learning as one concrete route to expanding their futures. To do that well, we created STEMPlay Labs, a new division led by BA Laris, dedicated to building educational games that make math and science genuinely engaging. Our first title, Fantasy Sports Math League, is already turning heads.
Technology changed too — and so did we. Artificial intelligence is no longer on the horizon; it’s in our work and woven into our products. We’ve always been early adopters of what’s possible. That instinct hasn’t changed.
Neither has our leadership structure stayed static. Over twelve years we’ve evolved at the organizational and board level in ways that reflect our values. Today dfusion is a women-owned small business — a designation we’re proud of and that speaks to the kind of organization we’ve always been working toward becoming.
And the credentials? We’ve earned them. Our SkillFlix technology — a video-based microskills learning approach that has been rigorously tested and proven effective — has earned us multiple patents. Our methodology is now trademarked: Microskills®. That’s ours. We built that.
Perhaps most telling: every single member of our science and research staff is now serving as a Principal Investigator on a federally funded research project. Two part-timers became a team of scientists, each leading work that matters.
So what hasn’t changed?
We are still the organization that adapts when the landscape shifts — and this past year tested that more than any other. We still build things because they’re needed, not because they’re easy. We still care deeply about the communities we work with and the researchers, educators, and practitioners who serve them. We still believe that technology, done thoughtfully, can genuinely improve lives.
At five years we celebrated. At ten we celebrated. At twelve, we celebrate again — with clearer eyes, harder-won experience, and more conviction than ever that the best work dfusion will do is still ahead of us.
Here’s to twelve years. And to whatever comes next.
Tamara Kuhn, MA is the CEO and Research Scientist at dfusion, a women-owned small business at the intersection of health technology, K-12 STEM education, and behavioral science research. With more than 25 years of experience developing mobile apps, AI-integrated tools, and evidence-based digital interventions, Tamara has led more than 40 federally funded technology projects and served as Principal Investigator on more than 25 NIH, CDC, and NSF-funded studies. She is the co-inventor of the patented SkillFlix microskills learning system and holds the Microskills® trademark. Her work spans sexual and reproductive health, HIV prevention, environmental health literacy, and game-based STEM learning — always grounded in rigorous research and designed for the communities that need it most.