A Timeline to Making Women’s Health Mainstream

May 2024

SWHR Hosts First Emerging Scholars Symposium at OSSD

The Society established the SWHR Emerging Scholars Symposium at the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences annual meeting to highlight three trainee members whose abstracts demonstrate research excellence in addressing important knowledge gaps in health and disease areas that disproportionately, differently, or exclusively affect women.

May 2024

SWHR Hosts Third VCU Health of Women Emerging Topics Symposium

As part of SWHR’s partnership with the VCU Institute for Women’s Health’s Health of Women annual conference, the Society hosted a 2024 Emerging Topics in Women’s Health Symposium focused on autoimmune diseases in women across the lifespan.

April 2024

SWHR Honors Three Leaders at 34th Annual Awards

SWHR honored Janine Austin Clayton, MD, FARVO, Associate Director for Research on Women’s Health and Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Maria Shriver, journalist, founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement and a strategic advisor on women’s health and Alzheimer’s disease at the Cleveland Clinic; and Shontelle Dodson, PharmD, Executive Vice President and Head of Medical Affairs globally at Astellas Pharma, Inc. at the Annual Awards Gala, held at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Feb 2024

ARPA-H Announces Sprint for Women’s Health

As the first major deliverable of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced the ARPA-H Sprint for Women’s Health, which commits $100 million towards transformative research and development in women’s health.

Feb 2024

SWHR Establishes Obesity Program

The Society convened an interdisciplinary group of health care experts, patient advocates, and health policy leaders for a roundtable meeting to kick-off the Obesity Program and better understand the impact of obesity on women’s health.

Jan 2024

SWHR Launches First Spanish Resource

The Society released its first-ever Spanish resource, Kit de Herramientas para la Endometriosis: Guía para Adolescentes (in English, Endometriosis Toolkit: A Guide For Teens), a toolkit to empower teenagers who have menstrual health questions or are living with endometriosis.

Jan 2024

SWHR Releases EMPACT Menopause Study Results

SWHR conducted the Employee Perspectives and Challenges Concerning the Transition of Menopause (EMPACT Menopause) Study to better understand the workplace experiences of individuals who have entered or completed the menopause transition, as well as the experiences of their coworkers and employers. Aiming to improve the workplace experience for all, SWHR used study insights to create the Menopause Workplace Resource Guide for Managers and the Menopause Workplace Resource Guide for Women.

Nov 2023

President Joe Biden Announces First-Ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research

President Biden announced the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, an effort led by First Lady Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council and chaired by Dr. Carolyn Mazure. SWHR engaged in conversations with the White House prior to the Initiative’s announcement to provide input about the landscape of women’s health research in the United States and the areas of greatest need. The Society applauded the Administration for taking an important step in prioritizing women’s health research at the federal level and sent a letter to Dr. Mazure to share recommendations for the Initiative’s consideration.

Sept 2023

SWHR Establishes Heart Health Program

SWHR has long been an advocate for women’s heart health. To continue this work, SWHR convened an interdisciplinary working group of heart health experts from across the healthcare continuum for a roundtable meeting, which established its Heart Health Program. Roundtable insights were captured and published in the policy agenda, Improving Women’s Heart Health Outcomes Across the Lifespan.

May 2023

SWHR Hosted Second VCU Health of Women Emerging Topics Symposium

As part of SWHR’s partnership with the VCU Institute for Women’s Health’s Health of Women annual conference, the Society hosted a 2023 Emerging Topics in Women’s Health Symposium focused on uterine health conditions.

April 2023

SWHR Hosts 33rd Annual Awards Gala

SWHR honored Kaveeta Vasisht, MD, PharmD, Associate Commissioner for Women’s Health at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Pauline Maki, PhD, Senior Director of Research at the University of Illinois Chicago Center for Research on Women and Gender, and Horizon Therapeutics.

April 2023

SWHR Hosts 33rd Annual Awards Gala

SWHR honored Kaveeta Vasisht, MD, PharmD, Associate Commissioner for Women’s Health at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Pauline Maki, PhD, Senior Director of Research at the University of Illinois Chicago Center for Research on Women and Gender, and Horizon Therapeutics.

April 2023

SWHR Hosts Power of Research Luncheon with Maria Shriver, Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, Cleveland Clinic

SWHR co-hosted “The Power of Research: Bridging the Gap” luncheon with the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM), Cleveland Clinic, and Maria Shriver to host to bring awareness to women’s risk of developing and dying from Alzheimer’s disease and discuss the state of Alzheimer’s research. During the event, Shriver called for a “moonshot” for women’s health, magnifying SWHR’s calls to strengthen our nation’s investment in women’s health research. Shriver’s advocacy would later help inspire the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

April 2023

SWHR Hosts Power of Research Luncheon with Maria Shriver, Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement, Cleveland Clinic

SWHR co-hosted “The Power of Research: Bridging the Gap” luncheon with the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM), Cleveland Clinic, and Maria Shriver to host to bring awareness to women’s risk of developing and dying from Alzheimer’s disease and discuss the state of Alzheimer’s research. During the event, Shriver called for a “moonshot” for women’s health, magnifying SWHR’s calls to strengthen our nation’s investment in women’s health research. Shriver’s advocacy would later help inspire the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

April 2023

NIH ORWH Announces Establishment of the Office of Autoimmune Disease Research

The NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health announced the establishment of the NIH Office of Autoimmune Disease Research (OADR-ORWH), which was directed by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (Public Law 117-328) and reflected recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s 2022 report Enhancing NIH Research on Autoimmune Disease. SWHR supported the formation of OADR and has advocated for increased investments into the Office through the annual appropriations process.

Dec 2022

SWHR Unveils Women’s Health Dashboard

The SWHR Women’s Health Dashboard offers a platform to explore the latest national and state data on diseases and health conditions that have significant impacts on women’s health across the lifespan – including public health data, research investment and progress, health insurance coverage, and relevant policy implications and actions. SWHR aims to bring attention to these issues, highlight current opportunities to address these disparities in women’s health, and track progress regarding science, education, and health care policy outcomes.

Nov 2022

SWHR Establishes Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Program

SWHR convened an interdisciplinary working group of public health experts for a roundtable meeting to discuss how to eliminate barriers to HPV vaccines. This meeting marked the start of the HPV Program and resulted in the #SWHRtalksHPV Video Series, created to address common myths about the HPV vaccine.

Sept 2022

SWHR Hosts Endometriosis Hill Day

Following its first fully, in-person roundtable since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, endometriosis working group members joined SWHR staff in meetings with Congressional offices to discuss strategies to advance endometriosis research and care for all women.

Aug 2022

SWHR Assumes Administration of Coalition to Advance Maternal Therapeutics (CAMT)

SWHR became the administrative home of the CAMT, dedicated to creating policy change and raising awareness of the need for greater inclusion of pregnant and lactating populations in clinical research. SWHR was a founding member of the CAMT and is one of the four permanent members of the coalition’s Steering Committee. Learn more about CAMT at safemeds4moms.org.

Aug 2022

SWHR Releases First Condition-Specific Policy Agenda

Based on expertise from the Bone Health Program working group, the Society published Promoting Bone Health Through Policy: A Call to Action to serve as a roadmap outlining key areas of policy needed to improve the bone health of women from childhood through adulthood.

Aug 2022

SWHR Establishes Autoimmune Disease Policy Program

Bridging its autoimmune disease and policy expertise, SWHR created a policy-specific autoimmune disease program and roundtable. SWHR later published its Autoimmune Disease Policy Agenda, Improving Outcomes for Women with Autoimmune Diseases and Conditions: A Call to Action, based on insights from the program.

June 2022

SWHR Establishes Psoriatic Arthritis Program

The Society hosted a roundtable meeting on psoriatic arthritis to establish the Psoriatic Arthritis Program and better understand the significant health, social, and economic impact of psoriatic arthritis on women’s health across the lifespan. This program resulted in the publication of the Psoriatic Arthritis Toolkit: A Woman’s Empowerment Guide.

June 2022

SWHR Establishes Lupus Program

Using the foundation of its previous autoimmune work, the Lupus Program began with a roundtable meeting to discuss scientific and policy issues related to the impact of lupus on women’s health across the lifespan. SWHR published the patient resource, Living Well With Lupus: A Toolkit for Women, and the policy resource, Call to Action: Addressing Health Care Barriers for Women Living with Lupus, using insights from this program.

May 2022

SWHR Partners with VCU Health of Women to Spotlight Emerging Topics in Women’s Health

SWHR partnered with the VCU Institute for Women’s Health’s Health of Women annual conference to host a pre-conference symposium on emerging topics in women’s health. The 2022 Emerging Topics in Women’s Health Symposium covered a range of SWHR programming and topics, from health equity to policy and advocacy.

May 2022

SWHR Partners with VCU Health of Women to Spotlight Emerging Topics in Women’s Health

SWHR partnered with the VCU Institute for Women’s Health’s Health of Women annual conference to host a pre-conference symposium on emerging topics in women’s health. The 2022 Emerging Topics in Women’s Health Symposium covered a range of SWHR programming and topics, from health equity to policy and advocacy.

April 2022

SWHR Establishes Bone Health Program

Starting with two-day bone health policy roundtable, the Bone Health Program reviewed scientific and policy issues in women’s bone health, including strategies for fracture prevention in at-risk women. SWHR released its first-ever condition-specific policy agenda, Promoting Bone Health Through Policy: A Call to Action, based on insights from this program.

April 2022

SWHR Launches Women’s Health Equity Initiative

The Society for Women’s Health Research created the Women’s Health Equity Initiative to highlight data on women’s health in the United States and aims to provide solutions to improve health equity across diseases, conditions, and life stages. The initiative features U.S. data on the disproportionate impact of six diseases on women’s health based on race and ethnicity, geography, age, and role as a caregiver.

April 2022

SWHR Annual Awards Gala

SWHR honored women’s health care leaders Wanda Barfield, MD, MPH, FAAP, RADM USPHS (ret.), Director of the Division of Reproductive Health within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Sudip S. Parikh, PhD, CEO for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and executive publisher at the Science family of journals; and Pfizer Inc., its Annual Awards Gala.

March 2022

Legislation Establishing ARPA-H Signed Into Law

The fiscal year 2022 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Public Law 117-103), signed into law on March 15, 2022, authorized the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency with a mission to support high-impact research to drive biomedical and health breakthroughs. SWHR was supportive of ARPA-H’s establishment and participated in a Listening Session series with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the NIH on how ARPA-H could benefit certain areas of health and disease that have not historically received robust funding.

March 2022

SWHR Establishes Narcolepsy Program

Extending the Society’s work in sleep health, SWHR established the Narcolepsy Program following a narcolepsy roundtable meeting. Insights from the program were collected into the Narcolepsy Toolkit: A Woman’s Empowerment Guide.

Dec 2021

SWHR Establishes Eye Health Program

The “Eye Health Education Roundtable: Understanding Eye Diseases that Disproportionately Affect Women Across the Lifespan” explores the health, social, and economic impacts of eye diseases that disproportionately affect women’s health. Working group members informed the paper “The Roles of Sex and Gender in Women’s Eye Health Disparities in the United States,” published in the Biology of Sex Differences.

Sept 2021

SWHR Establishes Fertility Program

Beginning with a two-day SWHR fertility roundtable meeting, the Fertility Program sought to understand how to eliminate barriers to access and reduce health disparities related to treatments for infertility in women. This program resulted in the creation of a pair of resources, Women’s Resource Guide to Fertility Health Care and Clinician Resource Guide to Fertility Health Care.

Aug 2021

SWHR Establishes Vaccines Program

SWHR hosted an immunization roundtable meeting to establish its Vaccines Program and discuss how to reach women as immunization recipients and decision-makers. The roundtable resulted in the creation of the resource, Crucial Vaccination Conversations: A Roadmap to Engage Women and Their Communities.

July 2021

SWHR Establishes ECS and NIPS Genetic Screening Programs

This program began a series of roundtables, “Noninvasive Prenatal Screening: Eliminating Barriers to Access and Reducing Disparities” and “Expanded Carrier Screening: Eliminating Barriers to Access and Reducing Disparities” to discuss how to eliminate barriers to access and reduce health disparities related to these genetic screening options. These meetings informed the creation of the Genetic Screening Roadmap: A Clinician’s Guide to Providing Quality Maternal Health Care.

June 2021

SWHR Establishes Autoimmune Skin Conditions Program

SWHR hosted a two-day roundtable meeting to discuss the health, social, and economic impacts of alopecia, atopic dermatitis, and psoriatic arthritis on women. This roundtable led to the creation of a variety of resources, including the published paper “Addressing Autoimmune and Immune-mediated Skin Disease Burden in Women” in Women’s Health Issues. 

June 2021

SWHR Release First Video Toolkit

Using insights from SWHR’s Network on Endometriosis and Fibroids, the Society created the Endometriosis Toolkit Video Series, based off the printed resource Endometriosis Toolkit: A Patient Empowerment Guide. This video series brings the Endometriosis Toolkit to life through narration and imagery.

May 2021

SWHR Launches Friends of ORWH (FORWH) Coalition

Founded by SWHR, the Friends of ORWH (FORWH) is a coalition of organizations representing scientists, researchers, clinicians, policy advocates, and patients who support the important work of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH). . The coalition’s primary goal is to advocate for federal support of ORWH’s mission, to ensure stable resources for the ORWH, and to improve awareness of ORWH’s ongoing programs and successes.

April 2021

SWHR Hosts 29th Annual Awards Dinner

The Society honored Lotus Mallbris, MD, PhD, Vice President and Global Head of Immunology Product Development at Eli Lilly and Co, Valerie Montgomery Rice, MD, FACOG, President & Dean, Morehouse School of Medicine, and Nora D. Volkow, MD, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the 2021 Annual Awards dinner.

Jan 2021

SWHR Establishes Menopause Program

SWHR gathered patients, clinicians, researchers, and other stakeholders for an “Exploring the Impact of Menopause on Women’s Health” meeting to discuss the impact of menopause on women’s health. Insights from this roundtable helped inform a variety of resources, including the Menopause Preparedness Toolkit: A Woman’s Empowerment Guide. In February 2023, SWHR continued the Menopause Program with a “Menopause in the Workplace” roundtable, which resulted in the Menopause Workplace Resource Guides.

Jan 2020

SWHR Celebrates 30th Anniversary

SWHR celebrated its 30th anniversary by honoring decades of work to improve women’s health through science, policy, and education. SWHR’s Annual Awards dinner highlighted SWHR’s historic efforts and future goals for women’s health, including our vision of “Making Women’s Health Mainstream.” The evening honored Jill B. Becker, PhD, Biopsychology Area Chair, Patricia Y. Gurin Collegiate Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Professor in the Michigan Neuroscience Institute at the University of Michigan; Diana W. Bianchi, MD, Director at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD); and Charlotte D. Owens, MD, FACOG, Women’s Health Lead, U.S. Medical Affairs at AbbVie.

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