Dr. Jill Biden and the White House this week announced that $100 million in federal funding will go toward research and development into women’s health.
In her speech in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Biden said the initiative aims to “fundamentally change” how the U.S. approaches and funds women’s health research.
“Research on women’s health has always been underfunded, many medical studies have focused on men and left women out,” Biden said. “Many of the medicine dosages, treatments, medical school textbooks, are based on men and their bodies – and that information doesn’t always apply to women.”
The inequity in research results in significant gaps in understanding diseases and conditions that may uniquely affect or disproportionately impact women, Biden stressed. All of which can leave women without adequate treatment options and healthcare tailored to the needs of women.
For example, the First Lady mentioned that women don’t often have recognizable heart attacks because their symptoms don’t look like a man’s heart attack, even as heart disease is one of the leading causes of death in women.
ARPA-H’s $100 million funding will go toward early investment in “life-changing” work by women’s health researchers and startup companies. The “Sprint for Women’s Health” initiative will invest in discoveries early when private companies are less likely to take the investment risk.
“We’ve heard from so many researchers and doctors and women who are excited about this project,” Biden said. “However, we’ve also heard that too many exciting discoveries for women’s health never leave the lab because they’re seen as ‘too risky’ to invest in.”
More about the new initiative
President Joe Biden in November announced the first-ever White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research that the First Lady and the White House Gender Policy Council would lead.
President Biden used the accelerated research approach that the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) used to create technology like the internet, GPS and Apple iPhone’s personal assistant Siri.
The White House said in a November 13 briefing that the initiative is “committed to galvanizing the Federal government and the private and philanthropic sectors to spur innovation, unleash transformative investment to close research gaps and improve women’s health.”
ARPA-H consists of executive departments and agencies across the federal government, including the U.S Departments of Health ad Human Services, Defense and Veteran Affairs, the White House offices like the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
In the first few weeks, the initiative will set priority areas of focus where additional investments could be most impactful, including research ranging from heart attacks in women to menopause. It will solicit ideas for groundbreaking research and development in women’s health.
The initiative plans to look toward public-private partnerships. It will engage private and philanthropic leaders to drive innovation and ensure public, private and philanthropic sectors will advance women’s health research.
The White House said the initiative will engage with a wide range of external stakeholders, including researchers and academics, women’s health organizations, philanthropic leaders and industry stakeholders.
“We will accelerate your ideas and change these women’s lives. We will build a healthcare system that puts women and their lived experiences at its center,” First Lady Biden said in her Cambridge speech. “Where no woman or girl has to hear that ‘it’s all in your head,’ or, ‘it’s just stress.’ Where women aren’t just an afterthought, but a first thought. Where women don’t just survive with chronic conditions, but lead long and healthy lives.”
