To ensure accountability to the communities we serve, the NIH ORWH and Office of AIDS Research (OAR) seek comments and input from women with lived experience of HIV, the advocacy and research communities, and others interested in research on HIV and women.
The White House has announced the establishment of the Women’s Health Research Initiative within the Office of the First Lady. The initiative aims to improve women’s health in the United States by accelerating research on the unique health needs of women across their lifespans and therefore fundamentally change how we approach and fund women’s health research.
The NIH Sex and Gender in Health and Disease (SGHD) Scientific Interest Group (SIG) will be hosting a webinar, titled Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV) Policy and Sex-Inclusive Research: Making Progress, Taking Stock, and Visioning the Future on November 30, 2023, from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM EDT.
The 59th meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health (ACRWH) will be held virtually on October 18, 2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT. The meeting will feature a presentation from Dr. Jon Lorsch, director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), on NIGMS’s role in supporting women’s health research.
In partnership with the National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, and Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office, ORWH is pleased to announce the five recipients of the new Galvanizing Health Equity Through Novel and Diverse Educational Resources (GENDER) Research Education Program (R25).
A special issue of the Journal of Women's Health (JWH) examines the necessity for robust training and support to strengthen the science and research of sex and gender as it relates to cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, immune, mental health conditions, and addiction.
The latest issue of Women’s Health in Focus at NIH explores issues relevant to neuroscientific research. The feature story focuses on sex differences in neurological conditions involving glia, historically understudied cells in the central and peripheral nervous system.
The July 2023 session of Diverse Voices: Intersectionality and the Health of Women, titled “Intersectional Approaches to Substance Use and Misuse,” will feature presentations from Drs. Meyer and Meyers-Pantele. Dr. Meyer will discuss integrated solutions to address HIV and substance use disorders (SUDs) among women involved in carceral systems, and Dr. Meyers-Pantele will explore experiences of intersectional stigma among racially and ethnically diverse women who use drugs.
On April 12, 2023, ORWH Director Janine A. Clayton, M.D., FARVO, announced the establishment of the NIH Office of Autoimmune Disease Research (OADR) during the 58th Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health.
ORWH recently awarded two Science Policy Scholar Travel Awards to support the development of junior investigators focused on women’s health or sex and gender differences who are also interested in research policy. Each recipient received up to $3,000 to cover the costs of attending the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences' (OSSD) annual meeting on May 7-11, 2023, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
The latest issue of Women’s Health in Focus at NIH explores programs that supports the recruitment, retention, reentry, and sustained advancement of women in biomedical careers. The feature story focuses on NIH programs that support women in biomedical careers including continuity supplements and NIH Loan Repayment programs.
The 58th meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health (ACRWH) will be virtual on April 12, 2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. EDT.
ORWH recently released two Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFO), Understanding Chronic Conditions Understudied Among Women, to support research on chronic conditions that affect women and individuals assigned female at birth. The purpose of the NOFOs are to invite applications on chronic conditions understudied among women and/or that disproportionately affect populations of women who are understudied, underrepresented, and underreported in biomedical Research.
ORWH will host the 7th Annual Vivian W. Pinn Symposium. Held annually during National Women's Health Week, the symposium is ORWH's signature event, honoring the first full-time Director of ORWH. The title of this year’s symposium is “Menopause and Optimizing Midlife Health of Women.”
ORWH and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recently re-issued a request for applications for an Advancing Gender Inclusive Excellence (AGIE) Coordinating Center. The purpose of the AGIE Coordinating Center is to provide the organizational framework for the management, direction, and overall coordination of all common activities aimed at investigating strategies, approaches, and interventions. This includes promoting gender equity or addressing barriers to gender equity for women, at the faculty and leadership levels in many areas of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM).
The March 2023 session of Diverse Voices: Intersectionality and the Health of Women titled “Intersectional Stigma and Mental Health,” will feature presentations from Drs. Melissa DuPont-Reyes and Janet Turan.
The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health Human Development (NICHD), National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR), Office of Disease Prevention (ODP), and the Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office (SGMRO) published a request for information (RFI), NOT-NR-23-008, to gather public input on priority scientific direction in violence against women (VAW) research
The latest issue of Women’s Health in Focus at NIH explores disparities and workforce diversity in mental health. The feature story discusses mental health disparities, the lack of diversity in the mental health workforce, and Federal initiatives addressing these issues.
This NOSI announces the availability of administrative supplements to support research testing gender terminology (e.g., woman, man, nonbinary) for measuring current gender identity as part of the two-step method of data collection (sex assigned at birth and current gender identity).
The Gender and Health: Impacts of Structural Sexism, Gender Norms, Relational Power Dynamics, and Gender Inequities workshop is a finalist for the vFairs Eventeer Awards in the “Best Virtual Education Fair” category. The Eventeer Awards showcases the best events hosted on the vFairs platform throughout 2022. Winners of the awards are decided by public voting.
The next session “Cancer Disparities: Methods and Measurement of Racial and Ethnic Diversity” will feature presentations from Drs. Laura Fejerman and Scarlett Lin Gomez.
ORWH is offering two Science Policy Scholar Travel Awards to support the development of junior investigators who are focused on women’s health or sex and gender differences and are also interested in research policy. The travel awards will provide up to $3,000 each to defray the costs of attending the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) Annual Meeting on May 7–11, 2023, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
ORWH released Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Research on the Health of Women of Understudied, Underrepresented and Underreported (U3) Populations (Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional).
The latest issue of Women’s Health in Focus at NIH explores oral health. The feature story discusses sex and gender differences in oral health and NIH efforts to support diversity in the dental, oral, and craniofacial workforce. A guest editorial by Jennifer Webster-Cyriaque, D.D.S., Ph.D., Deputy Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, discusses oral health disparities.
ORWH will host the 2022 Specialized Centers of Research Excellence on Sex Differences (SCORE) Annual Meeting on November 1, 2022. Cara Tannenbaum, M.D., M.Sc., Scientific Director of the Institute of Gender and Health, will present the keynote address, titled “Next-Generation Sex and Gender Science,” at 10:00 a.m. EDT.
The NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health (ACRWH) will meet virtually on October 18 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT. The meeting will feature presentations from Lindsey A. Criswell, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc., Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and Rick Woychik, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. There will be a panel discussion titled “Epidemiologic Contribution to Understanding the Environmental Impact on Women’s Health.”
NIH recently announced the launch of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx®) Tech for Maternal Health Challenge as part of the Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE) initiative, which supports research to reduce preventable causes of maternal deaths and to improve health for women before, during, and after delivery.
ORWH’s Pearls of Wisdom series features Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). In this video clip, Dr. Gibbons talks about leadership and how “your lived experience is a credential.”
ORWH, in partnership with the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), is launching a pilot program, Team Science Leadership Scholars Program (LSP).
ORWH’s Pearls of Wisdom series features Shannon N. Zenk, Ph.D., M.P.H., RN, FAAN, Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). In this video clip, Dr. Zenk discusses the qualities of success.
ORWH’s Pearls of Wisdom series features Helene M. Langevin, M.D., Director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). In this video clip, Dr. Langevin gives advice on pursuing a research career.
ORWH’s Pearls of Wisdom series features Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). In this video clip, Dr. Tromberg discusses the characteristics to look for in a mentor.
ORWH recently published the report, Perspectives of Advancing NIH Research to Inform and Improve the Health of Women. This report provides background on the public health needs of the three priority topics of MMM, chronic debilitating conditions, and cervical cancer; current NIH activities in women's health research and the three priority topics; research gaps on the health of women; and research opportunities at NIH.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) published a request for information (RFI), NOT-OD-22-186, to solicit input from stakeholders across the scientific research, advocacy, and patient communities, as well as the public, to inform the topics that will be included in the forthcoming NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Research on the Health of Women.
ORWH’s Pearls of Wisdom series features Noni Byrnes, Ph.D., Director of the NIH Center for Scientific Review (CSR). In this video clip, Dr. Byrnes advises to be proactive in your job search and “don’t undersell yourself or underestimate yourself.”
ORWH is pleased to announce a new program, Galvanizing Health Equity Through Novel and Diverse Educational Resources (GENDER) R25 (RFA-OD-22-015).
The latest issue of Women’s Health in Focus at NIH explores the menopausal transition, the stage of a woman’s life that generally begins between ages 45 and 55 and ends at menopause, marked by her final menstrual period.
ORWH’s Pearls of Wisdom series features Jon R. Lorsch, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). In his video clip, Dr. Lorsch discusses how “climbing the ladder” is a potential barrier to advancement.
The Pearls of Wisdom series features Debara L. Tucci, M.D., M.S., M.B.A., Director, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). In this Pearls of Wisdom video clip, Dr. Tucci talks about how to stay motivated.
On October 5, 2021, ORWH hosted a forum, Effective Approaches to Fostering Faculty Gender Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Celebrating Progress , to formally recognize and promote the winners’ effective, evidence-based practices, address challenges, and improve the existing career paradigm for many women in biomedical and behavioral science.
The Pearls of Wisdom series features Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., former Director of the NIH. In this Pearls of Wisdom video clip, Dr. Collins discusses how to increase the opportunity for women’s advancement into leadership roles.
The recently expanded Pearls of Wisdom series features Diana W. Bianchi, M.D., Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. In this Pearls of Wisdom video clip, Dr. Bianchi discusses resiliency through life challenges.
The ORWH e-learning course, Bench to Bedside: Integrating Sex and Gender to Improve Health, offers up to six CME Credits.
The recently expanded Pearls of Wisdom series features Rena N. D’Souza, D.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., Director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR). In this Pearls’ video, Dr. D’Souza responds to the question, “What do you consider to be success?”
The next session of the “Diverse Voices: Intersectionality and the Health of Women” series will focus on COVID-19 and women.
Jeff Todd, President and CEO of Prevent Blindness, interviewed the ORWH Director, Janine Austin Clayton, M.D., FARVO, about women’s eye health and safety.
The recently expanded Pearls of Wisdom series features Lindsey A. Criswell, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc., Director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). In this Pearls’ video, Dr. Criswell talks about effective leadership styles.
ORWH will host the 6th Annual Vivian W. Pinn Symposium. Held annually during National Women's Health Week, the symposium is ORWH's signature event, honoring the first full-time Director of ORWH. The title of this year’s symposium is “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Careers of Women Scientists."
This year is the 5th anniversary of one of ORWH’s signature research programs, the U3 Administrative Supplement Program, which supports research focused on women of populations often understudied, underrepresented, and underreported in clinical research. ORWH marks this important milestone with the launch of the U3 Interdisciplinary Research webpage.
April is National Minority Health Month and this year ORWH is highlighting the important roles individuals and organizations play in helping to reduce health disparities and improve the health of racial and ethnic minorities. The recently expanded Pearls of Wisdom series features Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, M.D., Director for the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD).
Produced and funded by the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, the Pearls of Wisdom online series of short videos aims to inspire, motivate, and inform individuals at all stages of their biomedical careers, with a particular focus on women in STEMM fields.
The NIH published two emergency Requests for Applications (RFAs) to solicit applications to participate in Phase III of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) initiative.
The latest issue of Women’s Health in Focus at NIH explores NIH research efforts to understand and address medical problems common among transgender women, individuals whose sex assigned at birth was male but who identify as women.
The “SABV Primer: Train the Trainer” course provides researchers and trainers within the biomedical research community the tools to account for and expertly teach the NIH Policy on Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV).
The biennial report details the NIH-wide programs and accomplishments carried out in fulfillment of ORWH’s core mission. It also includes a summary of ORWH activities during FY 2019-2020.
This NOSI highlights the availability of administrative supplements to support research focusing on sex and gender influences on human health.
This funding opportunity encourages projects examining common sources of disparities in the health of women and girls, with an emphasis on those that consider intersectionality, multidimensional models, and perspectives from multiple disciplines.
ORWH’s new quarterly lecture series, titled “Diverse Voices: Intersectionality and the Health of Women,” will amplify research that incorporates an intersectional framework and addresses the breadth of topics relevant to the health of women.
The awards defray the costs of attending the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) Annual Meeting on May 2-5, 2022, in Marina del Rey, CA.
At this year’s meeting, Tracy L. Bale, Ph.D., of the University of Maryland School of Medicine will present the keynote address, titled “Extracellular Vesicles as Stress Signals: Identifying Novel Biomarkers in Maternal and Fetal Health.”
This event will include two major lectures—the 5th Ruth L. Kirschstein Memorial Lectureship and the Legacy of Leadership Lectureship—as well as presentations on research findings by leading BIRCWH Scholars and a live Q&A session. An e-poster session featuring abstracts from BIRCWH Scholars will occur in the afternoon.
NIH recently released a funding opportunity announcement titled American Women: Assessing Risk Epidemiologically (AWARE) (R01 Clinical Trial Optional).
This webinar will increase awareness of and discuss sustainable strategies for integrating gender-based violence prevention/intervention services in diverse care settings.
This e-learning course gives users a thorough and up-to-date understanding of NIH requirements for factoring sex as a biological variable into research designs.
The series will include a consideration of the health care of incarcerated women, discussion of midlife health disparities identified by the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, and an interview with Vivian Pinn, M.D., the first full-time Director of ORWH.
The 2-day workshop will review the state of science on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk across the lifespan of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and identify knowledge gaps and opportunities in PCOS-related cardiovascular disease research.
Research in the U.S. confirms that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting populations that were already experiencing health disparities and medical or social vulnerabilities.
The workshop will focus on researching interconnected physiological systems, investigating multicomponent interventions of therapeutic systems, and examining the impact of these interventions on multisystem or multiorgan outcomes.
NIH recently awarded $50,000 each to 10 institutions as part of a prize competition recognizing their biomedical and behavioral science departments for enhancing gender diversity and equity among their faculties.
This funding opportunity complements and expands research support through the COBRE program and will advance the capacity of research on women’s health in Institutional Development Award (IDeA) States, areas that have historically received low levels of NIH funding.
The key topics discussed at this event will be rising maternal morbidity and mortality rates, increasing rates of chronic debilitating conditions in women, and stagnant cervical cancer survival rates.
This funding opportunity announcement solicits secondary analyses of existing datasets to provide evidence about appropriate strategies for long-term osteoporosis therapies, including drug holidays (i.e., physician-directed temporary cessation of pharmaceutical treatment), and to understand their risks and benefits more thoroughly.
The webinar will feature presentations by two panelists, Grace M. Aldrovandi, M.D., of the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital and Susan E. Cohn, M.D., M.P.H., of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, followed by a Q&A session.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health recently released a funding opportunity to solicit applications for State, local, territorial, and Tribal partnership projects designed to identify and reduce violence-related deaths among pregnant people and postpartum people.
Responsible sharing of data and biospecimens relies on robust informed consent practices and clear, efficient communication of the potential risks and benefits of sharing.
NIH has awarded $50,000 each to 10 institutions for their efforts in enhancing faculty gender diversity.
A recent request for information (RFI) from NIH invites public comments from the extramural scientific community, professional societies, and the general public to help identify gaps in women’s health research.
ORWH Social and Behavioral Scientist Administrator Elizabeth Barr, Ph.D., and colleagues recently published “Impact of Dedicated Women’s Outreach Workers (WOWs) on Recruitment of Women in ACTG Clinical Studies” in HIV Research & Clinical Practice.
ORWH recently released Notice of Participation of the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) in PAR-20-214, “Research to Improve Native American Health (R21 Clinical Trials Optional)” (NOT-OD-21-132) and Notice of Participation of the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) in PAR-20-238, “Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)” (NOT-OD-21-133).
This year’s symposium, titled “Integrating Sex and Gender into Biomedical Research as a Path for Better Science and Innovation,” focused on illustrating the scientific, societal, and economic opportunities of integrating sex and gender into biomedical research.
NICHD’s HPP is a collaborative research effort to develop tools for studying placental development and function in real time and in a safe, noninvasive manner.
This lecture series honors Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, M.D., the 19th and 21st Surgeon General of the United States.
On May 26, 2021, 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. (Eastern Time), NIMHD will host a preapplication technical assistance webinar to provide information and respond to questions from prospective applicants who plan to submit applications to RFA-MD-21-004, Understanding and Addressing the Impact of Structural Racism and Discrimination on Minority Health and Health Disparities.
ORWH staff members Pamela Stratton, M.D.; Elena Gorodetsky, M.D., Ph.D.; and Director Janine A. Clayton, M.D., FARVO, recently authored a commentary article in the Journal of the National Medical Association on the “collision of crises” between the COVID-19 pandemic and rising rates of maternal morbidity and mortality (MMM) in the United States.
Held each year during National Women’s Health Week (May 9–15, 2021), the symposium honors the first full-time director of ORWH.
On April 20, 2021, at 3:00‒4:00 p.m. ET, the NIH scientific interest group called Sex and Gender in Health and Disease will host a virtual talk on human microbiota by Rashmi Sinha, Ph.D., of the National Cancer Institute.
The Notice of Special Interest provides an opportunity for clinical trials and studies funded by the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term (HEAL) Initiative to address challenges of recruitment, retention, and engagement of populations suffering from pain and opioid use disorder.
On June 24, 2021, at 1:00–2:00 p.m. ET, ORWH will host “Analysis and Action: Applications of Intersectionality in COVID-19,” the second lecture in the “Diverse Voices: COVID-19, Intersectionality, and the Health of Women” speaker series.
NIH recently established the UNITE initiative to address structural racism and promote equitable representation and inclusion at NIH and throughout the larger biomedical research enterprise.
The publication describes how lockdowns and mitigation efforts disrupted global scientific conferences, laboratory research, work routines, and virtually every aspect of professional activity.
The new webpage includes an overview of scientific and policy priorities related to COVID-19 and its impact on maternal health.
AMP AIM will deepen the current understanding of autoimmune diseases—such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriatic spectrum diseases, and Sjögren’s syndrome—which afflict more than 25 million Americans.
ORWH Associate Director for Basic and Translational Research Chyren Hunter, Ph.D., and Charles Hoeffer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado Boulder, were interviewed by Ira Flatow for an episode of the “Science Friday” public radio program that aired on February 26, 2021.
The new site describes the history of the WgWBC and provides information on the working group’s subcommittees, supported programs, grants, career development resources, NIH diversity resources, and career flexibility initiatives.
NIH recently released three notices of special interest announcing funding opportunities supporting research on improving women’s health and maternal health, preventing maternal morbidity and mortality, developing new maternal health technologies, and understanding and addressing the impact of COVID-19 on maternal health.
To mark the publication of a special issue of the Journal of Women’s Health focused on the problem of maternal morbidity and mortality in the United States, on February 24, 2021, ORWH hosted a Twitter chat on issues related to maternal and obstetric health and safety.
A special issue of the Journal of Women’s Health (JWH) characterizes the increasing problem of maternal morbidity and mortality (MMM) in the United States.
NIH recently announced that F and K research grant recipients directly affected by COVID-19 may apply for no-cost extensions and funded extensions (NOT-OD-21-052).
In support of NIH efforts to research and mitigate the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), ORWH recently released its own COVID-19 webpage.
ORWH, in collaboration with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, has released a notice of intent to publish (NOITP) a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) to help women attain leadership roles in scientific careers.
On February 11 at 3:00 p.m. ET, ORWH will host an informational webinar on the NIH Prize for Enhancing Faculty Gender Diversity in Biomedical and Behavioral Science.
NIH has launched a new website that provides the research community and the public with trusted, up-to-date, accurate information about research on COVID-19 at NIH and across the NIH-supported research community.
This extensive virtual environment includes video recordings from the meetings, scholarly posters from the symposium’s research presentations, informational videos about ORWH and its signature programs, historical information about ORWH, and other resources.
New research funded by the NIH HEAL Initiative seeks to understand the effects of opioid use during pregnancy on maternal and child health and behavioral outcomes.
On January 27, 2021 at 11 a.m. (Eastern), ORWH will launch a new virtual lecture series titled “Diverse Voices: COVID-19 and the Health of Women.”
ORWH recently expanded its e-learning course offerings with “Sex as a Biological Variable: A Primer” and the final two modules of the “Bench to Bedside: Integrating Sex and Gender to Improve Human Health” course.
On December 14–16, 2020, ORWH hosted a series of three virtual meetings in celebration of the office’s 30-year role in supporting women’s health research and sex and gender studies within and beyond the NIH scientific community.
A new website created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) serves as a central resource for the public and health care providers to find information about different stages of COVID-19 illness, NIH-supported clinical trials to prevent and treat COVID-19, and locations to donate plasma.
On December 14, 2020, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Annual Meeting will kick off the ORWH 30th Anniversary Virtual Meeting Series by bringing BIRCWH Scholars and senior faculty together to share research and career experiences.
On December 15, 2020, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time, the ORWH 30th Anniversary Scientific Symposium, titled “Advancing the Health of Women Through Science,” will feature.
On December 16, 2020, from 10:40 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time, the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Specialized Centers of Research Excellence on Sex Differences (SCORE) will be given, rounding out the ORWH 30th Anniversary Virtual Meeting Series.
ORWH is hosting three enlightening virtual meetings to celebrate 30 years of women’s health research and sex and gender studies within and beyond the NIH scientific community.
The administrative supplements support expansion of research in States that NIH has designated “IDeA States” to address important issues of women’s health, particularly maternal and infant mortality and morbidity.
Throughout the week of October 11–17, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office on Women’s Health (OWH) will introduce National Women’s Blood Pressure Awareness Week to increase awareness of blood pressure control for women of reproductive age.
U.S. life expectancy has decreased in recent years, a trend driven in large part by “deaths of despair”—suicides as well as fatalities related to alcohol and other drugs.
An estimated 700 women die each year in the U.S. from conditions related to or associated with pregnancy or childbirth (the highest rate among developed nations), and over 50,000 women experience severe maternal morbidity.
ORWH is now accepting applications for a Challenge Prize competition aimed at increasing gender diversity among faculty members at colleges and universities and removing barriers to the uptake of systemic institutional approaches for transformative change.
The NIH Maternal Morbidity and Mortality (MMM) web portal collects information about how women in the United States, particularly Black women, experience much higher rates of pregnancy-related injury, illness, and fatality than women in peer nations.
The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released Healthy People 2030, a plan that sets data-driven objectives for addressing the Nation’s most critical public health priorities.
ORWH Associate Director for Science Policy, Planning, and Analysis Samia Noursi, Ph.D.; ORWH Director Janine A. Clayton, M.D.; and colleagues recently published “The Intersection of "Maternal Morbidity and Mortality and Intimate Partner Violence in the United States."
On September 2, 2020, NIH will virtually host the Inclusion Across the Lifespan-II Workshop: Implementation and Future Directions.
On Tuesday, September 1, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time), ORWH will host an hour-long webinar titled “Incorporating a Sex-and-Gender Lens from Bench to Bedside: Neurology,” featuring Farida Sohrabji, Ph.D., of Texas A&M College of Medicine.
On August 5, 2020, ORWH Director Janine A. Clayton, M.D., and ORWH Associate Director for Careers Xenia Tigno, Ph.D., hosted a Facebook Live panel discussion and Q&A session about leadership among women in STEMM.
As recent months have demonstrated, stress is unavoidable. Now more than ever, it’s important to understand stress and how we can manage it.
On July 22, 2020, ORWH hosted an online panel discussion titled “Improving Chronic Disease Outcomes Through Approaches that Address Social Determinants of Health.”
NIH recently released the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for COVID-19 Research. The strategic plan describes five priorities for accelerating the development of therapeutic interventions, vaccines, and diagnostics.
As part of its multifaceted response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NIH has launched an unprecedented four-pronged initiative, titled Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx), to catalyze the scientific community to speed innovation in the development, commercialization, and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) recently released Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Research on Co-morbid Substance Use, Substance Use Disorders, and Other Psychiatric Disorders (NOT-DA-20-004).
The High-Risk, High-Reward Research program of the NIH Office of Strategic Coordination—The Common Fund offers four funding opportunities for outstanding, creative scientists at all career stages.
NIH has dedicated numerous resources to support research on the newly emerged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) helps scientists, health care providers, and patients understand the relationship between women’s midlife experiences, such as menopause, and their health and quality of life in later years.
Xenia Tigno, Ph.D., recently joined ORWH as the Office’s first Associate Director for Careers.
NIH has announced a prize competition to recognize academic institutions for developing and implementing interventions that successfully address faculty diversity and equity issues in biomedical and behavioral science departments.
NIH recently released the “Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) regarding the Availability of Administrative Supplements and Urgent Competitive Revisions for Research on the 2019 Novel Coronavirus and the Behavioral and Social Sciences” (NOT-OD-20-097).
American women are more likely to die from childbirth or pregnancy-related complications than women in peer nations...
Recent articles in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology and the Journal of Women’s Health by Judith Regensteiner, Ph.D., ORWH Director Janine A. Clayton, M.D., members of the ORWH staff, and others discuss the importance of developing curricula and other educational resources to help train researchers, medical and scientific educators, clinicians, funding and ethics reviewers, and scientific editors on the methods and scientific value of incorporating sex and gender into biomedicine.
ORWH hosted a virtual meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health (ACRWH) on April 21.
Women in the United States experience maternal mortality at much higher rates than those in our peer nations.
NIH recently released a request for applications (RFA) titled Addressing Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality and Morbidity (RFA-MD-20-008).
ORWH and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Women’s Health (OWH) have released the first three modules of the e-learning course Bench to Bedside: Integrating Sex and Gender to Improve Human Health.
Cardiologist Nakela Cook, M.D., M.P.H., currently a Senior Scientific Officer and Chief of Staff in the Immediate Office of the Director (IOD) of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), will take on a new role as the Executive Director of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) on April 15.
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), ORWH, and other NIH institutes and centers recently released a notice of special interest (NOSI) announcing “Administrative Supplements for Research on Women’s Health in the IDeA States” (NOT-GM-20-017).
The Black Mamas Matter Alliance is sponsoring the third annual Black Maternal Health Week as part of the observation of National Minority Health Month in April 2020.
A recent request for information (RFI) from NIH invites comments and suggestions on a proposal for a trans-NIH research initiative to reduce maternal mortality.
The NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health (ACRWH) will meet on the NIH main campus (John Edward Porter Neuroscience Research Center, Building 35A, Rooms 620/630) on April 21, 2020, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Eastern).
Jacqueline Howard of CNN.com recently interviewed ORWH Director Janine A. Clayton, M.D., for an article on maternal mortality.
NIH recently published two notices of special interest (NOSIs) announcing administrative supplements to support and enhance retention of early-career biomedical investigators during critical life events.
The Journal of Women’s Health recently published “Sex as a Biological Variable: A 5-Year Progress Report and Call to Action,” an article commenting on the development and implementation of NIH’s SABV policy, which went into effect in January 2016.
NIH recently published two notices of special interest (NOSIs) announcing administrative supplements being offered by ORWH.
The annual meeting of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program was held on December 11, 2019, on the NIH main campus. Keynote speaker Judith Regensteiner, Ph.D., delivered the Ruth L. Kirschstein Memorial Lecture, titled “Strategic Career Development: Charting the Course.”
A new section of the ORWH website features free online courses designed to give users a thorough and 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 design.
ORWH is offering two Science Policy Scholar Travel Awards to support the development of junior investigators focused on women’s health or sex and gender differences who are also interested in research policy.
ORWH recently launched a revised NIH Inclusion Outreach Toolkit to help researchers recruit and retain women participants in their clinical studies.
A recent perspective piece in Nature explores how incorporating analysis of sex and gender into scientific and engineering research can engender discovery, increase experimental reproducibility and efficiency, suggest new methodologies, and promote social equity...
The NIH Pathway to Independence Awards (K99/R00) help outstanding postdoctoral researchers complete mentored training and transition in a timely manner to independent, tenure-track, or equivalent faculty positions...
The Washington Post and Clinical Practice Today Interview ORWH Director About PTSD and Gender Bias in Patient Care
ORWH hosted the fall 2019 meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health on October 23...
The conference will provide a forum for young investigators, their mentors, and other research scientists to meet, present their research, and engage in networking activities.
The Global Health Program for Fellows and Scholars, funded by NIH’s Fogarty International Center, Office of Research on Women’s Health, and other Institutes and Centers, collaborates with U.S. university partners to provide mentored global health research training opportunities in low- and middle-income countries around the world.
Historically, surgeons have treated uterovaginal prolapse by removing the uterus (called a hysterectomy) and attaching the top of the vagina to deep pelvic ligaments. Mesh hysteropexy represents an alternative treatment, does not require a hysterectomy, and uses a mesh implant similar to the one shown in the photograph to support the uterus.
This publication, often referred to as the “biennial report,” details the NIH-wide programs and accomplishments carried out in fulfillment of ORWH's core mission.
NIH recently released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) titled The Intersection of Sex and Gender Influences on Health and Disease for Research Project Grant (R01) applications on the influence and intersection of sex and gender in health and disease. This FOA encourages research across many scientific disciplines to examine how sex and gender factors intersect with health and disease.
A recent randomized clinical trial found that a procedure called mid-urethral sling surgery might help women who have both stress urinary incontinence and urgency urinary incontinence, together called mixed urinary incontinence.
A recent request for information (RFI) from ORWH invites comments and suggestions on the development of a prize recognizing institutions that have demonstrated commitment to addressing diversity and equity issues in biomedical and behavioral science departments.
The NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) has released an informational booklet on polycystic ovary/ovarian syndrome (PCOS), an endocrine disease affecting millions of women that is often missed during medical examination.
The Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) recently added over 40 funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) to its website.
The website of NIH’s National Library of Medicine (NLM) recently created an online version of the awarding-winning exhibition “Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating America’s Women Physicians.”
A recent supplementary edition of Women’s Health Issues, sponsored by the Veterans Affairs (VA) Cooperative Studies Program, features research reports and commentaries on the growing number of women veterans and their unique health needs.
Dr. Clayton Answers Questions About This Common Eye Condition.
Over the past year, the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) has coordinated the development of a new 5-year plan that will set an updated agenda for expanding research on the health of women.
NIH recently published a request for information (RFI) titled “Enhancing Rigor, Transparency, and Translatability to Improve Biomedical Research Involving Animal Models” (NOT-OD-20-130).
In a recent “Musings from the Mezzanine” blog post, Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Patricia Flatley Brennan, RN, Ph.D., FAAN, FACMI, discusses a historic first: 10 women now lead NIH Institutes and Centers.
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.
Five goals for advancing science for the health of women.
At the 46th meeting of ACRWH on October 23, 2018, ORWH Director Janine Clayton, M.D., addressed increases in maternal mortality, decreasing life expectancies for women, and the effects of the opioid crisis on women’s health.
The Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) has created the Maternal Morbidity and Mortality (MMM) web portal. Launched during the 4th Annual NIH Vivian W.
ORWH Director Janine Clayton, M.D., and fellow ophthalmologist Claude Cowan, M.D., spoke on gout and inflammatory eye disease at the 14th Annual Kenneth Austin Rheumatology Symposium at Howard University Hospital on April 6.
On November 8 and 9, 2018, ORWH Director Janine Clayton, M.D., attended the second annual WLGH Conference, hosted by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. The WLGH Conference convenes leaders from health, policy, and other sectors to discuss and promote gender equity in health leadership and thereby improve health for all.
On November 28, 2018, ORWH hosted the annual meeting of the BIRCWH program, which connects junior faculty (BIRCWH Scholars) to senior faculty mentors with shared research interest in women's health and sex-differences research.