ORWH hosted the fall 2019 meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health on October 23. ORWH Director Janine A. Clayton, M.D., provided updates on ORWH’s research funding, programs, and activities. Bruce J. Tromberg, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), gave an overview of NIBIB activities related to the health of women, such as advances in imaging to detect breast cancer. Adrienne Hallet, Associate Director of the NIH Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis, provided a legislative update, noting several important topics being discussed in Congress are maternal mortality, health disparities, and sexual harassment.

NIH Associate Deputy Director Tara Schwetz, Ph.D., moderated a special session highlighting work being performed across Federal agencies in the area of maternal morbidity and mortality. This session began with a presentation by Dorothy Fink, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women's Health and Director of the Office on Women's Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Sarah Foster, M.P.H., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Johannie Escarne, M.P.H., of the Health Resources and Services Administration also presented.

Information on the implementation and evaluation of The Trans-NIH Strategic Plan for Women’s Health Research was provided by Laura Sharon, M.A., ACC, CDTLF/CDWF, speaking on behalf of Samia Noursi, Ph.D., ORWH Associate Director for Science Policy, Planning, and Analysis. P. Kay Lund, Ph.D., Director of the Division of Biomedical Research Workforce in the NIH Office of Extramural Research, led discussions on proposed concepts for advancing women in biomedical careers. Melissa Ghim, Ph.D., Health Scientist Administrator at ORWH, facilitated discussion of a First-Time Independent Research Project Grant Administrative Supplement. Lynn Morin, M.A., Health Scientist Administrator at ORWH, presented on “Achieving Gender Diversity: Inclusive and Sustainable Institutional Approaches.” Teraya Donaldson, Ph.D., American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy Fellow at ORWH, led a discussion on a Request for Information (RFI) for a Gender Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce Prize.

More information on the ACRWH meeting is available on the ORWH website, and a videocast of the meeting is also available.