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. This year’s summit took place in Boston, Massachusetts, from September 23–25. ORWH Deputy Director Vivan Ota Wang, Ph.D., FACMG, CGC, and ORWH Health Science Policy Analyst Annina Burns, Ph.D., RD, represented the office on panels entitled Advocating for Sex & Gender Research: Championing Accountability from Public and Private Enterprises and Menopause Madness…Does Anyone Have a Solution?, respectively.  

With guidelines increasingly calling for more sex- and gender-specific research and better diversity and inclusion in clinical trials, the Advocating for Sex & Gender Research: Championing Accountability from Public and Private Enterprises panel discussion considered how to promote accountability across public and private spheres. Dr. Ota Wang underscored the importance of sex as a biological variable for scientific rigor and reproducibility. She also emphasized how the inclusion of more women and their lived experiences in research, innovation, and technology is scientifically vital and a human right.

The panel Menopause Madness…Does Anyone Have a Solution? was led by Claire Gill, founder of the National Menopause Foundation. Dr. Burns highlighted that research drives innovation and the reasons why it is important to prioritize improving the health span of women—the number of years women have in their lifetime free of disease and disability. The discussion focused on the newest menopausal research in hormonal replacement therapies and recent innovations, such as supplements, wearables, nonhormonal treatments, and educational tools.