• May 15, 2023: Expanding Menopause Research to Advance the Health of All Women
    The Director's message discusses the upcoming 7th Annual Vivian W. Pinn Symposium titled "Menopause and Optimizing Midlife Health of Women." It also discusses menopause and menopause research. Menopause is defined as a natural and irreversible life course stage marked by the cessation of menstrual cycling for 12 consecutive months. Common symptoms associated with menopause include hot flashes, sleep disturbances, mood changes, headaches, and heart palpitations.
  • Apr 12, 2023: Addressing Inequities to IMPROVE Maternal Health for All
    The Director's message is a joint blog featuring Drs. Diana W. Bianchi, Janine A. Clayton, and Shannon N. Zenk as they discuss inequities to improve maternal health.
  • Mar 10, 2023: NIH Symposium Launches OAR-ORWH Partnership to Advance Research on HIV and Women Across the Lifespan
    The Director's Message features Drs. Maureen Goodenow and Janine A. Clayton as they discuss a new collaboration between OAR and ORWH. This collaboration is crucial to enhance research at the intersection of HIV and women. NIH policies, resources for investigators, and targeted research funding continue to work together to help ensure that every woman or girl with or affected by HIV benefits from the best research.
  • Feb 27, 2023: Celebrating Progress and Carrying the Torch: Black History, Heart Health, and Trailblazing Women in STEMM
    February may be the shortest month of the year, but it brings no shortage of opportunities to celebrate achievement and progress—and to strengthen resolve advance equity. This month, we observe Black History Month and American Heart Month, as well as National Black Women Physicians Day, National Women Physicians Day, and the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
  • Jan 31, 2023: Building on Our Accomplishments in 2022 to Continue Promoting Women’s Health in 2023
    Throughout 2022, ORWH and its partners continued to rally to advance the health of women and careers of women in biomedical fields. Although there were some notable challenges along the way, I am proud of what we accomplished and look forward to building on the momentum gained last year. I would like to thank all ORWH staff members, our NIH colleagues, and all our partners beyond NIH for their tireless efforts and dedication to improving the health of women.
  • Oct 01, 2019: Guest Blog—Intimate Partner Violence: Raising Awareness, Taking Action
    Imagine a crowded sidewalk. More than 1 in 4 of the women there—walking, talking, and going about their business—have experienced intimate partner violence (IPV) at some point in their lives. They may have experienced physical violence (e.g., slapping, hitting, and choking), sexual contact without consent, or stalking (repeated unwanted attention and contact that causes safety concerns) by current or former intimate partners.
  • Sep 26, 2019: ORWH Contributes $1 Million to NIH HEAL Initiative to Evaluate Impact of Opioids on Human Development
    One of our goals at the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) is to help ensure that every woman receives—across her life course—evidence-based disease prevention and treatments tailored to her own needs, circumstances, and goals.
  • Sep 24, 2019: Research Shows Us How to Address Underrepresentation of Women in Academic Medicine; Now Let’s Finish the Job
    The academic medicine talent pool, long recognized as a vital component of that engine, is operating without a full complement of cylinders, creating an untold number of missed opportunities that the Nation cannot afford. What do I mean? Not everyone who is talented and desires a career in biomedical research is included, welcomed, and supported. I’m talking about women—and women of color especially.
  • Jul 17, 2019: A Game-Changing Pledge to Bring Greater Diversity to Scientific Panels
    Working at NIH, I often see the amazing advancements and achievements made by the biomedical research enterprise. One recent important advance is not a scientific finding or new technology, but a strong stand on principle made by NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins. In his announcement, Time to End the Manel Tradition, Dr. Collins pledged to speak only at scientific events “where scientists of all backgrounds are evaluated fairly for speaking opportunities,” which will result in inclusive agendas for the meetings. 
  • Jul 11, 2019: July Is National Dry Eye Awareness Month
    Dr. Clayton Answers Questions About This Common Eye Condition. Are your eyes often irritated—as if dust or sand were in them? Do your eyes sting or burn? Are they sensitive to light? Has driving at night or wearing contact lenses become more difficult? If so, you may have dry eye disease. 
  • May 07, 2019: National Women’s Health Week/Strategic Plan
    The NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health has joined the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH) to observe the 20th anniversary of National Women’s Health Week (NWHW), May 12–18.
  • Nov 07, 2014: Back to Basics: New Publishing Guidelines to Enhance Reproducibility and Relevance
    This week, Science and Nature report on new principles and guidelines in reporting preclinical research that were developed at a meeting organized in conjunction with NIH.
  • Sep 23, 2014: Stepping Stones to the Future
    Dr. Clayton; James Anderson, M.D., Ph.D.; and Elizabeth Wilder, Ph.D., announce $10 million in administrative supplement grants so that a sex/gender lens can be added to currently funded research projects.
  • Sep 11, 2014: A Conversation Worth Having
    NIH releases a Request for Information seeking input from the research community and others on key questions about the consideration of sex in NIH-funded studies.
  • Jun 27, 2014: Answering Questions on Considering Males and Females in Preclinical Research
    A Q & A guide is now available to answer questions about new NIH policies being developed to expand the consideration of sex in biomedical research with animals and cells.
  • Jun 23, 2014: Women Can Soar in STEM
    An update from the White House Summit on Working Families highlights findings from NIH-funded research examining why women may not progress to their full potential in the scientific workplace.
  • May 14, 2014: Questions Worth Asking of Science on Mother’s Day — and Every Day
    Highlighted on the occasion of National Women's Health Week, the Women's Health Research in Review slideshow catalogues advancements in women's health in recent decades.
  • May 14, 2014: Filling the Gaps: NIH to Enact New Policies to Address Sex Differences
    Nature publishes an announcement from NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. Clayton about a plan requiring grant applicants to address sex-based considerations and analyses in preclinical research.
  • Mar 31, 2014: Science Gets a Second Chance
    Research grant supplements issued through a new ORWH program are giving scientists the opportunity to strengthen their research by adding a sex/gender lens to their currently funded research.
  • Feb 14, 2014: Sex Is in the News… And It Matters
    CBS' 60 Minutes and the Huffington Post take up the topic of sex differences in disease and responses to medication, shining a light on the importance of women's health research.
  • Jan 01, 2014: The Three Rs of Good Science
    Rigor, reproducibility, and relevance drive good science, and ORWH is shining a light on one area where research sometimes comes up short: accounting for differences between males and females.