The Specialized Centers of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differences program is a signature program of ORWH.
(Historic document published prior to January 20,2025)
Each SCORE program serves as a national resource for translational research, at multiple levels of analysis, to identify and better understand the role of biological sex differences on the health of women. These NIH-supported Centers of Excellence are vital hubs for research on sex that also provide pilot funding, training, and education. SCORE investigators provide leadership in the development and promotion of standards and policies for the consideration of sex as a biological variable (SABV) and sex differences in biomedical research. Identifying the contributions of biological sex can assist in understanding women's health outcomes, the development of next-generation interventions and medical treatments that may lead to improvements in women's health.
As of Fiscal Year (FY) 2024, the current SCORE U54 program continues to leverage over 20 years of its prior investments and remains the only NIH centers program supporting disease-agnostic research on sex differences and major medical conditions affecting women in the United States.
SCORE Centers Across the US
Click on the center locations to learn more.
The former Specialized Centers of Research (SCOR) P50 program funded established scientists at Centers across the country, with support from NIH Institute and Center partners. Basic, clinical, and translational research approaches led to seminal contributions to the study of sex differences related to women’s health. The current ORWH SCORE program remains the only NIH centers program supporting disease-agnostic research on sex differences.
Each SCORE program has three highly integrated, synergistic research projects and an administrative core. In 2018, ORWH added a mandatory component, the Career Enhancement Core, to the program with the goal of supporting pilot research and training to the next generation of scientists in the study of sex differences.
In FY18, ORWH published the initial Specialized Centers of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differences (U54 Clinical Trial Optional) request for applications (RFA), RFA-OD-18-004, and funded six new awards. The RFA has been reissued a few times, and it supported a total of 12 active SCOREs in FY23. The most recent RFA is available here: RFA-OD-22-014.
For more information about the SCORE program, please contact SCOREU54@od.nih.gov.