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ORWH Recognizes National Mentoring Month
ORWH has developed and aggregated mentoring resources to help women in science create and maintain productive mentoring relationships.
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ORWH Announces a Science Policy Scholar Travel Award
The award, of up to $3,000 each, will support the attendance of two investigators at the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) Annual Meeting on May 2-5, 2022, in Marina del Rey, CA.
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Read Director's Blog
Vice President Kamala Harris Announces First Ever Federal Maternal Health Day of Action
The Biden-Harris Administration is showing its commitment to improving maternal health outcomes. Please read more about these efforts in the ORWH Director’s Blog.
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Watch Video
ORWH Releases Video Highlighting Leading Women in HIV Research
The scientific community has reached remarkable milestones in the 40 years since the 1st reported cases of HIV. As we reflect on these scientific advances, ORWH is proud to uplift the voices of some of the women leading the way in HIV research.
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Visit Web Portal
ORWH Updates Maternal Morbidity & Mortality Web Portal
ORWH completely redesigned the Maternal Morbidity & Mortality web portal, improving access to its science-based resources relevant to maternal health across the lifespan for scientists, researchers, consumers, and advocates.
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Read In Focus
ORWH’s In Focus Publication Explores Chronic Debilitating Conditions
The latest issue of Women’s Health in Focus at NIH explores chronic debilitating conditions affecting women—from arthritis, cancer, and diabetes to anxiety, depression, and PTSD.
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View Courses
ORWH's E-Learning Courses
Gain an up-to-date understanding of sex and gender influences on health and disease and NIH requirements on factoring sex as a biological variable into research designs through three online courses.
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ORWH Women, Science, and the Impact of COVID-19 Webpage
This webpage describes: (1) NIH efforts to ensure that research on COVID-19 appropriately incorporates the consideration of sex and gender influences; (2) the pandemic’s effects on the careers of women in biomedical and other STEMM fields and how NIH is offering support; and (3) the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research and how it intersects with ORWH’s mission areas.
Strategic Initiatives
Strategic Initiatives
View the new Trans-NIH Strategic Plan for Women’s Health Research (2019–2023)
NIH Policy on Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV)
NIH Policy on Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV)
Describes the NIH policy to account for sex in biomedical research
Inclusion Outreach Toolkit
Inclusion Outreach Toolkit
How to Engage, Recruit, and Retain Women in Clinical Research
Career Development & Interprofessional Education
Career Development & Interprofessional Education
Information supporting the recruitment, retention, and advancement of women in biomedical careers
Institutional Research Opportunities
Institutional Research Opportunities
Describes the NIH mentored career-development program
Individual Research Opportunities
Individual Research Opportunities
See ORWH research programs and funding announcements
Introducing the New ORWH Newsletter:
Women's Health in Focus at NIH
Within these pages, you will find thought-provoking information about women's health, learn about new research NIH is funding, and find important information for and about women scientists in the biomedical field.
Featured Publications
ORWH Quarterly Publication: Women's Health in Focus at NIH
Within these pages, you will find thought-provoking information about women's health, learn about new research NIH is funding, and find important information for and about women scientists in the biomedical field.
- Fifth anniversary of the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines: taking stock and looking ahead, BMJ Global Health, 2021
- The roles of sex and gender in women’s eye health disparities in the United States, Biology of Sex Differences, 2021
- USPSTF Approach to Addressing Sex and Gender When Making Recommendations for Clinical Preventive Services, JAMA, 2021
- Developing the Process and Tracking the Implementation and Evaluation of the National Institutes of Health Strategic Plan for Women's Health Research, Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 2021
- The Integration of Sex and Gender Considerations into Biomedical Research: Lessons from International Funding Agencies, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2021
- Special Issue of Journal of Women's Health on Maternal Morbidity & Mortality
- Pregnant in the United States in the COVID19 pandemic: a collision of crises we cannot ignore, Journal of the National Medical Association, 2021
- HIV-Related Stigma Research as a Priority at the National Institutes of Health, AIDS and Behavior, 2021
- The Intersection of Maternal Morbidity and Mortality and Intimate Partner Violence in the United States, Current Women's Health Reviews, 2020
- The role of gynecologists in screening older women for ocular surface disease symptoms, Menopause, 2020
- Sex as a Biological Variable: A 5-year progress report and call to action, Journal of Women’s Health, 2020
- Using the Ecological Systems Theory to Understand Black/White Disparities in Maternal Morbidity and Mortality in the United States, Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 2020
- Integrating the Influence of Sex and Gender in Research: Keeping Women Veterans in Focus, Women's Health Issues, 2019
- Taking Cardiology Clinical Trials to the Next Level: A Call to Action, Clinical Cardiology, 2018
- Considering sex as a biological variable in preclinical research, FASEB, 2016
- Sex and Gender equity in research: Rationale for the SAGER guidelines and recommended use, Research Integrity and Peer Review, 2016
- Studying Both Sexes: A Guiding Principle for Biomedicine, FASEB, 2015
See additional journal publications in the ORWH Reading Room.
Director's Corner
Janine Austin Clayton, M.D., FARVO
Janine Austin Clayton, M.D., FARVO, was appointed Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health and Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2012. Dr. Clayton has strengthened NIH support for research on diseases, disorders, and conditions that affect women. She is the architect of the NIH policy requiring scientists to consider sex as a biological variable across the research spectrum, including research designs, analyses, and reporting in vertebrate animal and human studies. The policy serves as the keystone of NIH's initiative to enhance research reproducibility, rigor, and transparency.
Featured NIH-Wide Resources & Initiatives
ACTIV
A public-private partnership to develop a coordinated research strategy to speed the most promising COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
ARPA-H
A new science agency proposed by President Joseph Biden as part of NIH to drive biomedical breakthroughs and provide transformative solutions for all patients.
All of Us Research Program
A research effort to revolutionize how we improve health and treat disease.
Accelerating Medicines Partnership
A bold venture to help identify new treatments and cures for diseases.
Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx)
An initiative to speed innovation in the development, commercialization, and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing.
Anti-Sexual Harassment
NIH does not tolerate pervasive or severe harassment of any kind, including sexual harassment.
NIH HEAL Initiative
Trans-agency effort to speed scientific solutions to stem the national opioid crisis.
Impact of NIH Research
NIH-supported research has had a major positive impact on nearly all of our lives.
RECOVER
A new research initiative to understand, prevent, and treat the long-term effects of COVID-19.
Ending Structural Racism
Learn more about NIH’s efforts to end structural racism in biomedical research through the UNITE initiative.
Clinical Trials
Learn about participating in clinical trials and where to find them.
Medical Research Initiatives
Important initiatives aimed at improving medical research.