Helena grew up in central Wisconsin as the fourth of five children. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where she studied cultural anthropology. Her first research experience involved leading a case study on the lived experiences of medically underserved mothers in the Twin Cities.  Before medical school, Helena worked at an endocrinology clinic in Fargo, North Dakota, where she was first introduced to rural gender-affirming care. During medical school, she focused on addressing the resurgence of syphilis in Wisconsin, developing accredited online continuing medical education to retrain clinicians in diagnosis and treatment.  Helena has a broad range of clinical interests including pediatric and adolescent gynecology, gender-affirming care, and sexual health/pleasure.  Outside of medicine, she enjoys skiing, kitesurfing, and running with her cattle dog, Snowball.