Community Partnerships

At SWHR we believe one of the keys to achieving our mission is forming strong relationships with organizations across the scientific, public health, patient advocacy, and women’s health communities.

SWHR’s community partners include nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, federal agencies, and others who align with our mission to eliminate disparities in research and care for women and share in SWHR’s vision of making women’s health mainstream. 

Alliances, Coalitions, and Roundtables

 

The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research is a coalition of patient and voluntary health groups, medical and scientific societies, academic and research organizations, and industry that support enhancing the federal investment in the biomedical, behavioral, and population-based research conducted and supported by the National Institutes of Health. Learn more.

 

The Alliance for a Stronger FDA is a multi-stakeholder organization devoted to advocating for increased appropriations for the FDA and educating policymakers and the public about the FDA’s mission and education policymakers and the public about the FDA’s mission and responsibilities. Learn more.

 

The American Brain Coalition works to advance the understanding of brain functions to reduce the burden and stigma of brain diseases and conditions and ultimately improve the lives of impacted people. SWHR has been a proud ABC member since 2023 and has a long history of supporting brain health, establishing its Brain Network in 2002 as the very first of its Interdisciplinary Science Networks. Learn more.

 

The American Cancer Society National HPV Vaccination Roundtable invites organizations with the collective mission to raise HPV vaccination rates and prevent HPV cancers in the United States. The roundtable sees a future where HPV cancers can be prevented sparing millions of families unnecessary pain, stress, and financial burden. Learn more.

 

The American Cancer Society National Roundtable on Cervical Cancer aims to tackle disparities in cervical cancer prevention, screening, and treatment in order to eliminate cervical cancer and reduce the harms caused by the disease. Learn more.

 

The Bladder Health Alliance is a coalition of 30 patient and physician advocacy organizations led by The Urology Care Foundation and working to advance awareness and education about bladder health. SWHR began work with the Alliance following the creation of the Society’s Network on Urological Health in Women. Learn more.

 

The CDC Coalition is a nonpartisan coalition of organizations committed to strengthening our nation’s public health infrastructure and prevention programs, working to ensure that health promotion and disease prevention are given top priority in federal funding. Learn more.

 

The Coalition for Headache and Migraine Pain (CHAMP) brings together the most influential patient advocacy organizations and leaders in the area of migraine, cluster, and headache diseases. SWHR is a Community Impact Partner with CHAMP. Learn more.

 

The Coalition to Advance Maternal Therapeutics (CAMT) was founded in 2014 and aims to better understand the efficacy of prescription drugs, therapeutics, and vaccines used during pregnancy and breastfeeding. SWHR was a founding member of CAMT and now serves as the coalition’s administrative home, overseeing funding, administrative, and logistics support, in coordination with other members of the CAMT Steering Committee. Learn more.

 

The Coalition to Strengthen Bone Health, administered by the Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF), brings together the voices and strengths of aging, family caregiver, women’s health and bone health advocates to raise awareness about the importance of bone health and the impact of osteoporosis and bone fractures on families and taxpayers and help advance evidence-based policy solutions to improve bone health. SWHR has been an active member of the coalition since 2021. Learn more.

 

The Coalition for Health Funding is the nation’s oldest and largest nonprofit alliance working to preserve public health investments in the interest of all Americans. SWHR is a proud member of CHF, which represents more than 100 million patients and consumers, health providers, professionals, and researchers. Learn more.

 

The Champions for Vaccine Education, Equity and Progress (CVEEP) (formally COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project) was founded during the COVID-19 pandemic and is made up of more than 250 leading organizations representing a variety of communities that face challenges from infectious respiratory illness, particularly diverse communities that have been most harmed by the effects of respiratory illness. Learn more.

 

The Friends of AHRQ is a voluntary coalition of more than 450 organizations that support the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). These groups are either the producers or end-users of the health services research developed by AHRQ. Learn more.

 

The Friends of NCHS is a voluntary coalition of more than 250 organizations that support the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Members of this diverse group, spanning think tanks, professional associations, and universities, rely on the data collected and maintained by NCHS to conduct research, support advocacy efforts, and inform health policy. Learn more.

 

The Friends of NIEHS support the work of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and their mission is to discover how the environment affects people in order to promote healthier lives. Learn more about NIEHS.

 

The Friends of ORWH is a coalition of organizations that support the important work of the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH). The coalition is comprised of groups representing scientists, researchers, clinicians, policy advocates, and patients. Together, these groups are committed to prioritizing sex and gender disparities and related needs within biomedical research and within the U.S. health care system. SWHR founded the coalition and serves as its administrative home. Learn more.

 

The Headache and Migraine Policy Forum aims to advance public policies and practices that promote accelerated innovation and improved access to treatments for persons living with headache disorders and migraine disease. Learn more.

 

HPV Cancers Alliance exists to increase awareness of the threat of HPV and the six cancers it causes. SWHR supports them as a partner in their mission to empower individuals with knowledge about the health and lifestyle impact of HPV infection. Learn more.

 

Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer’s Disease (LEAD) Coalition is a diverse and growing national coalition of more than 110 member organizations committed to stopping Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, including vascular disease, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal degeneration. The coalition works collaboratively to focus the nation’s attention on accelerating transformational progress across a range of issues. SWHR has been a campaign partner since 2021. Learn more.

 

The National Health Council is more than 100 years old and brings diverse organizations together to forge consensus and drive patient-centered health policy. SWHR has been one of NHC’s more than 160 national health-related organizations since 2022. SWHR President and CEO Katie Schubert began serving on the NHC Board of Directors in 2023. Learn more.

 

The NHLBI Constituency Group, co-chaired by the American Heart Association and the American Thoracic Society, advocates for increased funding for the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute with the goal of improving research, training and education to prevent and treat heart, lung, blood and sleep disorders. Learn more about NHLBI.

 

Research!America is a nonprofit medical organization that advocates for science, discovery, and innovation to achieve better health for all. Research!Alliance has a diverse membership that spans the research spectrum from the lab bench to the bedside. SWHR has been a longtime member of Research!America. Learn more.

 

The Safe Step Act Ad Hoc Coalition represents patient and provider organizations that support passage of the Safe Step Act, which would ensure that employer health insurance plans offer a clear, medically reasonable, and expedient step therapy exceptions process. SWHR has been a member of the coalition since 2023. Learn more about the Safe Step Act.

 

The Women First Research Coalition and its members work together to raise awareness with federal policymakers, executive branch officials, and the public about the need for sustained and strengthened investment in women’s health research. SWHR has been an active coalition member since 2020. Learn more.

Allies in Women's Health

 

The EveryBODY Covered campaign is working to ensure that everybody has access to evidence-based obesity care options. Comprehensive obesity care should be covered just as care for other chronic diseases is covered—it’s only fair. SWHR has been a campaign partner since 2024. Learn more.

 

The Innovation Equity Forum (IEF) is a group led by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, made up of over 250 diverse stakeholders with a commitment to discuss, prioritize, and articulate specific opportunities to advance women’s health research & development (R&D) and first solution strategies. The group created the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map 2023 Opportunity Map 2023.

 

The Raise Project tracks awards given by scientific societies and professional organizations in order to both recognize the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, the arts, and medicine, as well as to demonstrate the underrepresentation of women receiving prestigious awards. SWHR helped stand up this project. Learn more.

 

UterineHealthGuide.org is a resource for learning more about period health, uterine health conditions, and more, with information and tools provided from across a variety of patient advocacy organizations. SWHR served on the advisory board for the website, and the Society’s uterine health resources are featured on the site. Learn more.

 

Wake Up Narcolepsy was established in 2008 and has quickly become a national leader for narcolepsy advocacy, as it is dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure while increasing education and understanding amongst the public. Wake Up Narcolepsy is part of the SWHR Sleep Network and contributed to creating the Narcolepsy Toolkit in 2022. Learn more.

 

The White Dress Project aims to spread awareness on a global scale about the widespread occurrence of uterine fibroids, by promoting education, fostering research, building a supportive community, and advocating for better health. The White Dress Project is part of the SWHR Gynecologic Health Network and contributed to creating the Uterine Fibroids Toolkit in 2021. Learn more.

 

The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement (WAM) is a leader in brain health awareness in women, from puberty to menopause. SWHR partners with WAM in many capacities to help advance the discussion around necessary innovations and funding in women’s brain health research. Learn more. Through collaboration with WAM and others, SWHR sits on the Women’s Brain Health Steering Committee.

 

The World Economic Forum provides a global, impartial and not-for-profit platform for meaningful connection between stakeholders to establish trust and build initiatives for cooperation and progress. SWHR materials and resources were added to the World Economic Forum’s Women’s Health Transformation Map in 2022 and is an active member of the Global Alliance for Women’s Health. Explore the map.

Event Partners

The American Physiological Society aims to empower scientists to understand life and improve health by advancing and communicating discoveries in physiology and medicine. SWHR partnered with APS in 2024 to co-host a women’s health webinar series covering topics from menopause to lupus to Alzheimer’s disease. Learn more.

 

ECHAlliance is the Global Connector for Digital Health, connecting 78 Countries and 4.4 billion people as an organization aiming to transform healthcare. ECHAlliance and SWHR are event partners, and most recently are co-conveners on the “Women’s Unique Health Needs and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” program at the United Stations General Assembly (UNGA79) Science Summit in fall 2024. Learn more.

 

Evvy is committed to unlocking precision healthcare for women & people with vaginas through at-home testing. Their mission is to close the gender health gap by discovering and leveraging overlooked female biomarkers — starting with the vaginal microbiome. In 2022, SWHR partnered with Evvy to celebrate the first-ever Equal Research Day and bring attention to the research gap in women’s health. Learn more.

 

The Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association has nearly 50 years of experience empowering women with resources that unite 17,000+ passionate healthcare and life sciences professionals. In 2024, SWHR President and CEO Katie Schubert presented to the HBA membership about women’s health issues. Learn more.

 

Medscape is the leading online global destination for physicians and healthcare professionals worldwide, offering the latest medical news and expert perspectives; essential point-of-care drug and disease information; and relevant professional education and CME. SWHR has partnered with Medscape on several women’s health events, including most recently a clinician menopause education program in 2024. Learn more 

 

The Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) was founded in 2006 by member scientists and staff of the Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR). From 2006-2012, OSSD operated as a program of SWHR, and in 2012 became an independent non-profit educational organization. Each year, OSSD hosts an Annual Meeting to gather members with the aim of enhancing the knowledge of sex and gender differences and fostering interdisciplinary communication and collaboration among scientists and clinicians of diverse backgrounds. In 2024, SWHR presented its inaugural Emerging Scholars in Women’s Health Research Award to select trainees whose abstracts demonstrated research excellence in addressing important knowledge gaps in health and disease areas that disproportionately, differently, or exclusively affect women. Learn more about OSSD.

 

Responsum Health, in partnership with leading patient advocacy groups and medical advisors, creates native mobile apps and web-based platforms that deliver expertly vetted content for chronic disease patients in an easy-to-read format. The disease-specific platforms also serve as resource and community hubs for both patients and their allies. Repsonsum and SWHR joined forces in 2023 to create, conduct, and published the EMPACT Menopause Study. Learn more.

 

The Science Summit during the United Nations General Assembly is a hybrid event offering a dynamic blend of online and in-person sessions in New York City. Each year, the Summit offers a comprehensive program designed to facilitate meaningful scientific collaboration, and knowledge sharing across diverse scientific disciplines and sectors. SWHR will host the event “Women’s Unique Health Needs and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)” at the 2024 Science Summit this year. Learn more.

 

The annual Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Health of Women conference, is a premier interdisciplinary women’s health conference in the United State and includes a speaker program with experts on a broad range of women’s health topics, poster sessions, and national awards for outstanding research, leadership, and public policy & advocacy in women’s health. SWHR hosts a pre-conference symposium on Emerging Topics in Women’s Health each year, including a general session in 2022, a uterine health session in 2023, and an autoimmune session in 2024. Learn more.

These partnerships are listed in alphabetical order. To learn more about these partners or discuss building a community partnership with SWHR, please reach out to the Development Team at development@swhr.org. 

The Society for Women’s Health Research does not make medical, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations, nor does it endorse or promote specific screening or diagnostic tests. Patients and consumers should consult a professional health care provider to discuss testing options and to determine individual needs.