ORWH Medical Officer Balkissa Ouattara, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., represented ORWH at the University of Cincinnati’s Women's Health Equity Symposium December 5–6, 2024. The event aimed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, clinicians, and community members while amplifying the voices of women who have been historically marginalized.

Historically, women’s health research has focused on reproductive health and female-specific conditions, but it has since expanded to encompass all aspects of the health of women. The newly released publication, Recent Developments in Women’s Health Research at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, reviews how the changes NIH has implemented have affirmed the importance of women’s health research through policies and programs that support rigor and the inclusion of women in biomedical research.

ORWH is a partner of the Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC) led by the Health Resources and Services Administration, a multi-year partnership among federal agencies that works to improve cancer research and health care delivery. FCCC has recently released a new resource, Improving Patient Engagement in Cervical Cancer Prevention: Communication Toolkit to Build Provider Capacity.

ORWH’s Associate Director for Careers, Xenia Tigno, Ph.D., is committed to ensuring that women are supported in science-related careers. Under Dr. Tigno’s leadership, ORWH has launched a variety of funding opportunities that seek to address the points in a scientist’s career that Dr. Tigno refers to as “precipices where women usually fall off.”

The most recent edition of Women’s Health In Focus at NIH explores technology and innovation in women's health research. NIH’s major investments over the past decades have spurred advancements for in vitro bioengineering tools that enable the use of human cells and tissues for preclinical testing. These advances have the potential to expedite the development, testing, and clinical use of novel therapeutics.

NIH ORWH is offering two Science Policy Scholar Travel Awards to support the development of two junior investigators who are focused on women’s health or sex and gender differences and are also interested in research policy.

Chyren Hunter, Ph.D., ORWH Associate Director of Basic and Translational Therapies, and Regine Douthard, M.D., M.P.H., ORWH Senior Medical Officer, represented NIH in a meeting with the Japan Science and Technology Agency to discuss and share insights on fostering gendered innovations and sex as a biological variable research in the United States.

ORWH and partnering institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs) are excited to announce the awardees for the R01 and R21 Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs), Understanding Chronic Conditions Understudied Among Women, which requested research applications on chronic conditions that affect women and individuals assigned female at birth.

The Annual Meeting of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program, sponsored by ORWH, was held on October 1, 2024, at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. BIRCWH is an institutional, mentored career-development program designed to bring together mentors, early-career investigators, and leaders in the field for a day of engaging presentations.

The Office of Autoimmune Disease Research in the Office of Research on Women’s Health (OADR-ORWH) is pleased to introduce the investigators who received the 2024 Office of Autoimmune Disease Research R56 Research Awards. R56 awards support short-term, highly meritorious extramural research that falls just outside the funding limits of participating NIH institutes and centers.

The Women’s Health Innovation Summit is an annual event that accelerates innovation, investment, research, and partnerships to improve the access to and quality of health care for women worldwide.

ORWH has announced a new funding opportunity to address health disparities among groups of women in the U.S. that are underrepresented, underserved, and underreported in biomedical research.

In collaboration with ORWH and other participating NIH institutes, centers, and offices, the Office of Disease Prevention is seeking applications for “Interventions to expand cancer screening and preventive services to ADVANCE health in populations that experience health disparities.”

Medscape and the Women’s Brain Foundation collaborated with ORWH Director, Janine Austin Clayton, M.D., FARVO, on a new continuing medical education (CME) program, “The Female Void: Sex and Gender Considerations in Health Care with a Focus on the Female Brain.”

ORWH Associate Director for Interdisciplinary Research, Elizabeth Barr, Ph.D., recently presented at the GENDERACTIONplus Online Stakeholder Consultation on “Inclusive Gender Analysis in Research and Innovation Beyond the European Research Area” on October 1, 2024.

A new article by ORWH Health Science Policy Analyst Raven Hardy Richard, Ph.D., titled “A Conceptual Model to Achieve Health Equity in APOL-1 Clinical Studies,” leverages a socioecological model (SEM) framework to identify challenges and opportunities related to enhancing clinical study participation diversity for individuals with apolipoprotein L1 (APOL-1)-mediated kidney disease.

The National Institutes of Health has announced the winners of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Technology (RADx® Tech) for Maternal Health Challenge, a prize competition that encourages the development of postpartum maternal health diagnostics for regions that have limited access to maternity care.

NIH Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health and ORWH Director, Janine Austin Clayton, M.D., FARVO, has authored a new publication, "Raising the Bar: Putting Science to Work for the Health of Women" that provides an overview of ORWH as an office.

There has been an alarming increase in the number of Americans who are experiencing homelessness and difficulty affording housing, which leads to frequent housing changes. Housing instability is classified as a public health challenge due to the wide range of health impacts and health disparities associated with it.

Throughout the week of October 13–19, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health (OWH) will be raising awareness about high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, to improve women’s health outcomes. Information provided during National Women’s Blood Pressure Awareness Week aims to help women understand and manage their heart health with suggested strategies and highlighted resources that can help prevent or control high blood pressure.

The 2024 CityMatCH Leadership and Maternal Child Health (MCH) Epidemiology Conference, Reaching New Heights: Strengthening MCH Across Generations, took place in Seattle, Washington, from September 9 to 11. The conference brought together city and county health departments’ maternal and child health programs and urban community leaders from around the country.

The most recent edition of Women’s Health In Focus at NIH explores sex and gender differences and infectious diseases. Infectious diseases pose unique risks to women due to profound sex-based differences in immunity compared to men.

Partnering with the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) launched the first phase of a novel discovery resource for women’s health research (WHR), called DiscoverWHR. This innovative resource simplifies finding women's health information for patients, caregivers, medical professionals, researchers, and the public.

Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health and Director of the ORWH at NIH, Janine A. Clayton, M.D., FARVO, will be speaking at the Society for Women’s Health Research’s (SWHR) “Women’s Unique Health Needs and the Sustainable Development Goals,” which is a series of sessions during the Science Summit at the United Nations General Assembly.

The Office of Autoimmune Disease Research in the Office of Research on Women’s Health (OADR-ORWH) is pleased to introduce the NIH investigators who received Office of Autoimmune Disease Research Intramural Research Awards. These awards, which support high-priority autoimmune disease research occurring within NIH, represent a collaboration between OADR-ORWH and various NIH institutes known for their commitment to elucidating ways to predict, prevent, diagnose, and cure autoimmunity.

NIH has awarded $7,722,583 to Columbia University to oversee the new  NEXUS: Network for Exposomics in the U.S. Coordinating Center for research on the human exposome, which is the cumulative measure of environmental exposures and corresponding biological responses.

NIH has announced the final winners of its Connecting the Community for Maternal Health Challenge. Eight nonprofit organizations will share approximately $1.5 million in cash prizes for their efforts to develop, implement, and conduct research projects to improve maternal health outcomes in their communities.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) affects 6–15% of women in the United States and up to 20% of women who struggle with their weight. As part of PCOS Awareness Month, PCOS Challenge hosted a webinar on September 3, 2024, about research-driven innovations in PCOS care.

Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have found that measuring two types of fat in the bloodstream along with C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, can predict a woman’s risk for cardiovascular disease decades later.

In collaboration with the National Library of Medicine, the Office of Research on Women’s Health has released a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to highlight interest in receiving grant applications that will fund the preparation of book-length manuscripts and other works of academic and/or public health policy value to U.S. health professionals, public health officials, biomedical researchers, and historians of the health sciences.

ORWH is pleased to announce the release of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Overview of Research Gaps for Selected Conditions in Women’s Health Research at the NIH: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. This publication summarizes the third public meeting of NASEM’s ad hoc committee aiming to address the persistent gaps that remain in the knowledge of women's health research across the NIH.

ORWH is pleased to announce the recipients of the Galvanizing Health Equity Through Novel and Diverse Educational Resources (GENDER) Research Education Program (R25) grant, in collaboration with the Office of Aids Research, National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office.

Private-sector innovation is a key aspect of accelerating and improving women’s health research. In response to President Biden’s Executive Order on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation, NIH committed to further increasing—by 50%—its investments to support innovators and early-stage small businesses engaged in research and development on women’s health.

A new study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has determined that cabotegravir, an antiretroviral medication used for HIV treatment, is safe for use before and during pregnancy. The global study analyzed the pregnancy and infant outcomes of using long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA) in more than 300 pregnant women.

Global Health 50/50 recently released its 2024 global report entitled Gaining Ground? The report analyzes the gender-related policies and practices of over 200 global health organizations that wield immense influence, control billions of dollars annually, and shape global discourse on social and political priorities. The report provides a critical examination of the organizations’ leadership and power landscape in their pursuit of gender equality.

The Office of Autoimmune Disease Research (OADR-ORWH) and Office of Research on Women’s Health are excited to announce the publication of “Coordination and Collaboration to Support Exposome Research in Autoimmune Diseases,” a new article in Arthritis Care & Research, the official journal of the American College of Rheumatology and the Association of Rheumatology Professionals.

Congratulations are in order! The NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health announced Jillian Joyce and Alicia Cole as the winners of the travel award for the Menopause Society 2024 Annual Meeting. The award provides these two junior investigators up to $3,000 each to defray the cost of attending the annual meeting from September 10 to 14, 2024, in Chicago.

Leaders from the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), Director Janine Clayton, M.D., FARVO, Deputy Director Vivian Ota Wang, Ph.D., FACMG, CGC, Associate Director for Interdisciplinary Research Elizabeth Barr, Ph.D., and Associate Director of Clinical Research Sarah Temkin, M.D., presented on a panel at the 2024 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting. The panel presentation explored the breadth of ORWH and NIH research and programming on key issues in women’s health.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has pledged $27.5 million worth of funding opportunities to research programs aimed at improving women’s behavioral health across the United States. The funding opportunities will expand access to women’s behavioral health services and enhance the capacity of providers to identify and address mental health conditions, substance use, and gender-based violence.

In June 2024, ORWH and NIGMS hosted the first “NIH Symposium on Women’s Health Research in the IDeA States.” The event brought together field experts to discuss a variety of women’s health research–related topics, such as maternal health and lifestyle during pregnancy, the impact of mental stress on the female heart and cardiac system, and the success of nanoparticle therapies on maternal health outcomes. Explore these topics and much more in the newly released IDeA States Symposium Program Booklet.

The most recent edition of Women’s Health In Focus at NIH explores women and mental health across the lifespan. The feature story highlights several areas of research on the biological and social drivers of women’s mental health. It describes how leading experts in the field are working to unravel the complex web of genetic, social, hormonal, and neurobiological influences on mental health disorders.

The Office of Autoimmune Disease Research in the Office of Research on Women’s Health (OADR-ORWH) released a NOSI to highlight interest in receiving applications that seek funding for the support of scientific conferences and workshops that will gather subject matter experts to develop and refine common data elements (CDEs) for autoimmune disease research.

A study co-led by researchers at the National Cancer Institute and recently published in Nature suggests that as some women age, their white blood cells can lose a copy of one of their two X chromosomes. Scientists have identified inherited genetic variants that may predict this phenomenon, which is called “mosaic loss of chromosome X” or “mLOX.” These genetic variants may play a role in promoting the multiplication of abnormal blood cells, which could lead to several health conditions, including cancer.

ORWH, in collaboration with NIH partners and other federal agencies, spearheaded the development of the NIH Policy on Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV) to encourage clinicians and researchers to consider SABV at all stages of the research process. The development of this policy stemmed from an over-reliance on male animals and cells in basic and preclinical biomedical research, which obscures our understanding of the impact an individual’s biological sex can have on health, processes, and outcomes.

The Juneteenth observance commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved people in Texas were notified of their freedom and slavery ended in the United States. Juneteenth also serves as a critical reminder to advance racial equity in health care, especially as it relates to women’s health. The racial and ethnic disparities in maternal health outcomes for Black women are stark. Black women are approximately three times as likely as White women to die from a pregnancy-related cause, regardless of income or education level.

ORWH is sponsoring a new open-access supplement in Social Science & Medicine on “Gender, power, and health: Modifiable factors and opportunities for intervention” that will expand on conversations from the “2022 Gender and Health: Impacts of Structural Sexism, Gender Norms, Relational Power Dynamics, and Gender Inequities Scientific Workshop.”

The Office of Research on Women’s Health and the Office of AIDS Research, along with 17 institute, center, and office partners, issued a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) to highlight interest in receiving intersectional HIV research and training grant applications that explicitly center the health needs of cisgender women and girls and gender-diverse people.

The understudied, underrepresented, and underreported (U3) program was developed in 2017 to draw attention to the lack of biomedical research on persistent disparities and inequities in women’s health care, and to support evidence-based research efforts to address these gaps. The U3 program highlights the intersectional experiences of women, exploring the ways in which socially determined categories, like race or gender, overlap and interact to create differing outcomes for individuals and communities.

ORWH recently launched a new resource titled NIH Fact Sheets on Women’s Health Research, which provides health and disease data on women. The fact sheets include relevant discussions on how sex and gender differences and female-specific considerations may play a role in the health of women.

The Office of Research on Women’s Health recently released the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Research on the Health of Women 2024–2028, a comprehensive roadmap that will inform NIH-supported research on various diseases and health conditions that affect women.