This year, the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) celebrated the 35th anniversary since its incorporation on February 13, 1990. The Society’s remarkable 35-year history is one of groundbreaking advocacy and advancement in women’s health.
At the time of the Society’s founding, women were actively and intentionally excluded from medical research, and there wasn’t consensus across the medical field when it came to studying women’s health. There were no Offices of Women’s Health across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and researchers were not held accountable for examining sex differences in their research.
Building on the work and dedication of a group of physicians, medical researchers, and health advocates, including Florence Haseltine, MD, PhD, for the past three decades, SWHR has been advancing women’s health and promoting research on sex differences to optimize women’s health across the lifespan. Today, the Society plays a critical role in identifying clinical, education, and research gaps; raising awareness of diseases, conditions, and life stages that differently, disproportionately, or exclusively affect women; and promoting policies that could positively shape health outcomes for women.
Reflecting on 2025
Each year brings new challenges to overcome and successes to celebrate, and this year was no exception. In 2025, SWHR:
- Introduced its first Women’s Health Research Agenda, published in the Journal of Women’s Health, in January. The agenda highlights persistent areas of need within uterine health, autoimmune disease, and cardiometabolic health (with special emphasis on uterine fibroids, lupus, and metabolism in women) and serves as a roadmap for stakeholders looking to initiate engagement or increase current efforts in women’s health research.
- Celebrated its anniversary in style at the 35th SWHR Annual Awards Gala, in April. Keeping with tradition, the evening honored leaders for their contributions to advancing women’s health, presenting awards to Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL), Kim Love with Amgen, and Teresa Woodruff, PhD, with Michigan State University.
- Released From Awareness to Action: A Guide to Women’s Health Advocacy, a comprehensive, easy-to-use toolkit designed to inform advocates at every level about the ins and outs of advocacy. This resource elevates the importance of advocacy as a tool we can each use to make a difference in closing the gender health gap.
- Partnered with Perelel Health in September to host a women’s health research congressional roundtable and advocacy day. Hosted on Capitol Hill, this event brought together a powerful coalition of congressional champions, women’s health advocates, and award-winning actresses Mandy Moore and Lupita Nyong’o, among others. Moore and Nyong’o both shared their stories as a “living example of someone who has shouldered the consequences of the research gap,” said Nyong’o in her remarks.
- Hosted “Transforming Women’s Health through Science and Sustainable Partnerships,” a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) Science Summit event in collaboration with the Global Health Connector, in October. The day was filled with powerful speakers and thoughtful discussion, covering themes of knowledge translation, collaboration, policy action, and community empowerment.
- Launched a first-of-its-kind resource designed to simplify the basics around Medicare enrollment, specifically focused on navigating Medicare benefits that women can use to support their bone health and heart health. Created in partnership by SWHR and HealthyWomen, Savvy and 65: A Woman’s Guide to Understanding Medicare seeks to empower women with tools they need during this critical life stage.
- Witnessed the removal of black box warnings from all estrogen-based menopause hormone therapy products by HHS, in November. SWHR appreciates that the administration has taken important steps to reassess the evidence and align its policy with current scientific literature. While more research and data are necessary for understanding how the use of certain hormone therapies in women may impact their health long term, this was an important win for women’s health.
Throughout the year, SWHR published over a dozen women’s health stories, as part of the Women’s Health Perspectives series. If you have a health care story to share, as a patient, advocate, or caregiver, consider sharing your story with SWHR. Your story may help educate and inform other women and health care decision makers. Share your story today at swhr.org/shareyourstory.
None of these achievements would be possible without SWHR’s incredible partners, steadfast supporters, and the everyday women sharing their health stories and amplifying the call to make women’s health mainstream. We thank each of you for being with us this year.
The Future is Female (and Funded)
Our team eagerly looks forward to the new year, where SWHR has plans to elevate women’s health issues, celebrate the importance of sex differences research, and empower every woman to take charge of her health, no matter her age.
If you would like to join SWHR in these efforts, please consider donating here and pledge your support to close the gender health gap.
Be on the lookout for more women’s health research webinar events, congressional briefings, policy statements, and patient resources. Stay in the loop by subscribing to the monthly SWHR newsletter here.
If you’d like to reach out to SWHR about any future programs, please email info@swhr.org.
Our work will not stop until women’s health is truly mainstream. Will you join us?