Endocrine Society Meets with NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health to Discuss Research Gaps & Policy Priorities

On Thursday, December 1, Janine Austin Clayton, MD, director of the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) and associate director of Women’s Health Research at the NIH visited the Endocrine Society for a meeting with Endocrine Society member and associate director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Jane Reusch, MD; and the director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Judy Regensteiner, PhD.

During the meeting, participants discussed research gaps and opportunities identified during the National Conference on Women’s Health Research, “Sex Differences Across the Lifespan: A Focus on Metabolism” (recently highlighted in the July Endocrine News). The group also discussed the new NIH policy on the “Consideration of Sex as a Biological Variable in NIH-funded Research.” The meeting highlighted the many synergies between the policy priorities and research interests of ORWH and the Endocrine Society.

Several specific opportunities were identified during the meeting, including working together on developing educational resources about how to appropriately consider sex as a biological variable and promoting existing resources such as the online developed by ORWH.