In the News

  • GAO: NIH needs to do more to ensure research evaluates gender differences 
    According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, NIH remains unable to determine whether researchers are examining outcomes by sex to see whether men and women are affected differently by what is being tested. Scientists are required to analyze results by sex in most cases, but NIH has no central process for collecting the information or making it available. The GAO says that NIH cannot assure Congress that it is supporting research that can "shape improved medical practice for both women and men." (December 2015)
  • Here's Why Some Feminists Have A Problem With The Feds' New Animal Testing Rules 
    In a commentary published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, four researchers argue that NIH's new policy that NIH-funded animal experiments must consider both males and females will not actually fix the health disparities between the sexes, because these differences are driven not only by biological factors, but social ones. Critics worry that putting so much emphasis on hard-wired sex differences in animals could lead scientists to draw misleading, or even harmful comparisons. (December 2015)
  • Modeling the Female Reproductive Tract in 3-D: The Birth of EVATAR™
    Dr. Janine Clayton was interviewed on the importance of EVATAR, a 3-D representation of the female reproductive tract, as a part of this feature article on the model's development. Supported by a National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences project cofounded by ORWH, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, researchers from Northwestern University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, and the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed EVATAR to better test drugs' effects and better understand the basic biology of female reproduction. (August 2015)
  • Why Science Needs Female Mice 
    The New York Times Editorial Board discusses NIH's new policy requiring NIH-funded scientists to consider the biological variable sex in preclinical research studies. (July 2015)
  • Men Are The Model: Why We Don't Know Nearly Enough About How Meds Affect Women 
    Dr. Janine Clayton was included among other experts in this in-depth Refinery29 article looking at issues of inclusion in health research, and the need to consider the biological variable sex from the very start: in preclinical research. "We want to be sure that considering sex as a biological variable is not an afterthought," she said. (July 2015)
  • Faces of Clinical Research' Speak at Women's Health Week Event 
    Clinical research panelists share experiences at the May 2015 ORWH event celebrating National Women's Health Week. Held to recognize the importance of women and diversity in clinical research, the NIH Record covers the event and captures the stories of panelists. (July 2015)
  • Sex Differences And Pain  
    Over the past 15 years, neuroscientists have pieced together one particular biological circuit that they think is involved in some chronic pain conditions. But work on this mechanism left out some important subjects: females. In Chemical & Engineering News, Dr. Janine Clayton comments on this new study that highlights the risk of ignoring sex in biomedical research. "The study is another in a growing number of examples showing how sex influences biology from cells to selves," said Dr. Clayton. "Studies like this show that it's vital to study both sexes." (July 2015)
  • Hey, Medicine: Stop Ignoring the Existence of Women  
    Dr. Janine Clayton talks to OZY about the importance of considering both sexes in preclinical research, and what it means for understanding female biology and women's health. (May 2015)
  • The Surprisingly Simple Factor That Could Be Affecting Your Health  
    The first step to preventing and treating illness is asking a simple question: What's your sex? Learn why—and what it means for you in the March issue of Real Simple magazine, which includes Dr. Janine Clayton. (March 2015)
  • In a podcast by the Academy of Women's Health  in partnership with NIH's Office of Research on Women's Health, Dr. Janine Clayton talks about women of color and their unique health needs, and how the Women of Color Health Data Book, 4th Edition, can assist clinicians in providing person-centered care for diverse populations of women. She joins Dr. Susan Kornstein, the Academy of Women's Health President and Journal of Women's Health Editor and Dr. George A. Mensah, Director, Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science, NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, for this discussion. View podcast transcript. (March 2015)
  • Global Health Matters 
    Dr. Clayton answers questions about the role of gender in global health research in this issue of Global Health Matters, NIH's Fogarty International Center's newsletter. (September 2013)
  • Women's Health — Respect at Last   (PDF - 1.0 MB) 
    Dr. Clayton and other women's health advocates discuss issues pertinent to the expanding field of women's health. (September-October 2013)
  • Congressional Briefing: What's Ailing America? Shorter Lives, Poorer Health  
    This issue of COSSA Washington Update features expert discussion relating to the report, U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health, including Dr. Clayton's reflections on how the findings and research recommendations relate to women in America. (October 7, 2013)
  • An Eye on Gender and Health  
    In the Johns Hopkins University Arts & Sciences Magazine, alum Dr. Clayton talks about her path to becoming an advocate for women's health. (Spring 2013)
  • Women's Health: More than 'Bikini Medicine'  
    On National Public Radio's "Tell Me More" with Michel Martin, Dr. Clayton discusses the changing field of women's health and how it's much broader than reproductive health. (March 25, 2013)
  • The Drug-Dose Gender Gap  
    Studies have shown that women respond differently than men to many drugs, from aspirin to anesthesia. Dr. Clayton emphasizes that there is much to be learned and that the case of zolpidem is just the "tip of the iceberg." (January 28, 2013)