Edwards is a graduate of the Integrated Product Design Master's program at the University of Pennsylvania. It was there that she first conceived of an environmentally sustainable pregnancy test. Classmate Anna Couturier-Simpson and Penn faculty adviser Sarah Rottenberg liked the idea so much that they joined Edwards as cofounders of the company. The name of the product, "Lia," is a play on the scientific term "lateral immunoassay," a type of rapidly readable strip test.