In March, President Joe Biden proposed new investments as part of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, which launched in November 2023. He signed an executive order to support women’s health research across the government. Below are highlights from the executive order.
- The Office of Management and Budget is charged with identifying gaps in Federal funding for women’s health research and providing recommendations for additional funding to advance women’s health. Working through the Women First Research Coalition (WFRC), SGO has been actively engaged in efforts to identify the gaps in current investment in women’s health research – first through the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) October 2022 consensus conference and the current National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) panel on women’s health research.
- The Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs shall evaluate the needs of women service members and veterans related to midlife health and develop recommendations to support improved treatment and targeted research on midlife health.
- Building on the NIH’s research and data standards, actions will be taken to develop and strengthen these standards to enhance the study of women’s health across federally funded research and other funding opportunities.
- To advance women’s health research, the Initiative will promote collaborative, interdisciplinary research, address health disparities and inequities affecting women, and support the translation of research advancements to improve health outcomes.
Besides the executive order, Federal agencies have already made announcements stemming from the Initiative.
- The NIH has announced that $200 million in new money will be invested in women’s health research across its institutes and centers in fiscal year (FY) 2025. More information on these investments will be made during National Women’s Health Week, which begins on May 12.
- The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) launched the Sprint for Women’s Health, which is a $100 million investment to support nonconventional approaches and innovative new avenues to advance high-impact biomedical research in women’s health. The application deadline for this first tranche of funding has passed but ARPA-H may be making additional investments.
- The National Science Foundation (NSF) called for the submission of research and education proposals on women’s health. This is NSF’s first call for proposals related to women’s health.
Additionally, the White House is calling for $12 billion to support a trans-NIH fund to support women’s health research and establish a national network of centers of excellence and innovation in women’s health. SGO is working with the WFRC and other stakeholders to advocate for the inclusion of an initial investment towards the $12 billion total in the FY 2025 appropriations cycle.