On November 13, 2023, President Biden issued a Presidential Memorandum announcing the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research (WHI-WHR), an effort led by First Lady Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council. On March 18, 2024, President Biden signed a new Executive Order on Advancing Women's Health Research and Innovation (EO 14120) with directives to ensure women’s health is integrated and prioritized across the federal research portfolio and budget.
White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research Workshop
In collaboration with the White House Gender Policy Council, NIH held a workshop on October 29, 2024 at the White House to showcase how NIH is harnessing interdisciplinary research and innovation to accelerate and improve health for all women. NIH leadership, Institute and Center Directors, and members of the women's health research community came together in this workshop which highlighted NIH interdisciplinary research advancements for women across the lifespan and explored the potential and promise of women’s health research.
"Advancing Women's Health Research and Innovation" Fact Sheet
The "Advancing Women's Health Research and Innovation" Fact Sheet details how NIH is responding to the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research by elevating and prioritizing research on women’s health.
The fact sheet describes how NIH is:
- Maximizing the impact of women’s health research
- Addressing the health needs of women across the life course
- Accelerating small business and technology research and development in women’s health
- Advancing the study of women’s health through research and data standards
NIH Women's Health Roundtable Series
In response to the Presidential Memorandum on the WHI-WHR, ORWH developed the NIH Women's Health Roundtable Series based on feedback from NIH institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs) to bring attention to priority Department of Health and Human Services topics and to disseminate information on federally supported research areas. The Roundtable Series is supported by NIH ICO leadership and engages the extramural research community and the public to raise awareness of the study and analysis of conditions specific to women, conditions that disproportionately impact women, and conditions that affect women differently.
This series provides a platform for federal employees, extramural scientists, and members of the public to engage in constructive dialogue to define the necessary next steps to advance research on key women’s health research topics.
The Roundtable Series is open to federal employees, extramural scientists, and members of the public at large.
Past Events
September 16, 2024
12:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. EDT
Elevating Women’s Voices to Improve Maternal Mental Health was the third roundtable of the NIH Women’s Health Roundtable Series, which focused on important women’s health topics, such as maternal mental health, as part of the White House Women’s Health Research Initiative. This series was developed as a recommended action in response to the Presidential Memorandum to bring attention to priority topics within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and to disseminate information on federally supported research areas.
The roundtable was also featured in the National Institute of Mental Health’s (NIMH) Office of Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity Webinar Series, which focused on mental health equity research topics. The event was co-hosted by NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health and NIMH.
The goals of this roundtable were to:
- Spotlight high priority research areas related to women's mental health during pregnancy and the postpartum period, up to one year following childbirth.
- Share information on how NIMH-supported research advances the development of and access to screening, diagnostics, and preventive and treatment interventions to improve women’s mental health during the perinatal period.
- Explain how maternal mental health research can reduce the burden of mental illnesses that contribute to maternal morbidity and mortality.
- Identify and explore gaps in areas critical to women’s research outlined within the Executive Order on Advancing Women's Health Research and Innovation (EO 14120) and the 2024-2028 NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Research on the Health of Women.
Sponsored by:
NIMH’s Office for Disparities Research and Workforce Diversity and NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health
Contact:
For questions, please contact Tamara Lewis Johnson.
August 19, 2024
1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. EDT
Beyond the Lesion: Charting New Paths was the second event of NIH Women’s Health Roundtable Series, which focused on important women’s health topics, such as endometriosis, as part of the White House Women’s Health Research Initiative. This series was developed as a recommended action in response to the Presidential Memorandum to bring attention to priority topics within the Department of Health and Human Services and to disseminate information on federally supported research areas. For more information about the series, visit the NIH Women's Health Roundtable Series page.
This roundtable was co-hosted by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The goal of the endometriosis roundtable was to bring together diverse stakeholders, including researchers, clinicians, and community members to foster collaborative discussions and share insights on the latest developments in endometriosis research, diagnosis, and treatment. This collaborative effort aimed to identify key challenges and develop strategies to improve patient care.
Watch the videocast below or view it in fullscreen here.
May 16, 2024
11:00 a.m.–12:45 p.m. EDT
This roundtable served as the launching event for the series, which was hosted by ORWH and the Office of Disease Prevention. The roundtable sparked dialogue on the science on menopause and highlighted NIH-supported work in the menopause research domain. It also furthers initiatives outlined within the Executive Order on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation to identify and explore gaps in women’s health and diseases and conditions that arise during women’s midlife and later years.