Women's Brain Foundation’s Post

Neglecting sex and gender in research is a public health risk. To address this, we need: 👩⚖️ Political will ✍️ Policy changes 📢 Greater awareness about impact of the status quo ⚙️ Engagement of private sector partners Let's work together to ensure research that truly reflects and serves everyone.

How well do our healthcare systems account for sex and gender differences? Consider the full continuum of drug development from preclinical and clinical research to post-market surveillance; evidence and guideline development; and frontline practice with respect to diagnosis, treatment, how male and female patients respond differently to drug therapy, as well as how we as clinicians manage our care. How does exploring these areas improve health equity, safety, and efficacy of therapeutics? On Wednesday May 29, we are excited to have Mira Maximos (She/Her/Hers) lead a Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP) Ontario Branch Journal Club session on considering sex and gender in research and practice. This session will describe how sex- and gender-related factors may influence therapeutic efficacy and safety and explore how research led by and involving pharmacy professionals can begin to consider sex- and gender-related factors. Hope you can join us as we broaden our perspectives on how we deliver and receive healthcare. Registration link below:

The Lowdown is trying to close the data gap in women's health 👩💻 From our founder, Alice Pelton: "Our wider vision now is to be the research platform for women's health. We want to ensure that women’s voices will be represented in research, leading to better health outcomes for women." We're doing this by: 1. Working with partners like the NHS to conduct surveys like this HPV awareness one: https://lnkd.in/eXsrQm6R (currently open for participation!) 2. Working with partners like Lindus Health to recruit for studies like this one on postnatal depression, to help develop new treatments: https://lnkd.in/e99qM6t2 (currently open for participation!) 3. Collecting data points on women's health across contraception, endometriosis, PCOS, fertility & soon to include perimenopause. Allowing women to learn more about how others are experiencing these life stages and conditions Check out the coverage in FutureFemHealth ⬇ https://lnkd.in/emftQAWD

Really looking forward to sharing insights during this Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP)/Société canadienne des pharmaciens d’hôpitaux (SCPH) journal club! Thank you Vivian KT Lee for the awesome introduction to the topic. Objective of the session: To describe how sex- and gender-related factors may influence therapeutic efficacy and safety and explore how research led by and involving pharmacy professionals can begin to consider sex- and gender-related factors. Come join us! #SGBA #HealthEquity #Pharmacy #Research

Why Sex Matters ⬇️ Caught you looking! For too long, women's health research has lagged behind, lacking funding and focus. This gap has left us in the dark about illnesses mainly affecting women, like endometriosis and many autoimmune diseases. Studies often miss how treatments impact men and women differently. Surprisingly, conditions like heart attacks or chronic pain hit women harder, and we're still figuring out why. Though there's debate over the significance of gender differences in diseases, experts like Dr. Janet Woodcock from the #FDA stress the importance of recognizing and addressing these disparities for better treatment outcomes. Get a full scoop in Fast Company's article. Link in comments ⬇️ #KIRIAResearch #KIRIA #Leadership #pharmaceuticals #womenshealth #pharma

With just 1% of global healthcare research and development dedicated to female-specific conditions, this research highlights the vital need for action to close the gender health gap and strive for gender health parity. Men are typically the default subjects in medical research, creating standards that may not accurately apply to women. This focus on men can lead to overdiagnosis and overtreatment in men while underdiagnosing and undertreating women. Some diseases, such as cardiovascular (heart) disease, present differently in males and females. Males and females may also metabolise drugs in a different way, meaning they may need different quantities or formulations. These drugs can have sex-specific side effects. Shining a light on systemic gender bias in medical research and its impact on female patients. It's time for change. #GenderGapInMedicine https://lnkd.in/dJAJrt8i

Happy International Women's Day! Women make up approximately a quarter of all people with serious drug problems in Europe and around one-fifth of all entrants to drug treatment. Yet much still needs to be done to provide interventions tailored to their needs, with many drug services remaining male-oriented. The complex, overlapping issues faced by many women who use drugs require coordinated and integrated services. Across Europe, drug use, mental health networks and social services are often separated. Adopting a gender-responsive approach to drug problems benefits gender-diverse people including women, men, and transgender and non-binary people. Read more in today's news item: https://lnkd.in/dJMQbARx and mininiguide on women and drugs: https://lnkd.in/d5f8ia6G

With the aim of raising awareness about gender and sex biases in the health sector, the conference “Kvinders Sundhed – blinde vinkler og bias”, held in the Danish Parliament, addressed specific cases as well as a broad view on how imbalances in academia affects women’s health. The same disease may affect men and women differently, and the same treatment men receive may be less effective or involve additional side effects for women, e.g. because of hormonal differences. Despite improvements in policies for gender disaggregation in clinical research, and greater inclusion of women patients, there are still large knowledge gaps specific for the diseases that afflict women alone or disproportionally. In an effort to raise awareness and start a political debate, Molecule Consultancy had invited researchers and politicians to a conference on what these biases look like in Denmark. The conference was held on June 12, 2024, at Christiansborg, hosted by Monika Rubin (MP, Moderaterne) and Kristine Kryger (Regional Council, Capital Region, Radikale Venstre). From CFA, senior researcher Jens Peter Andersen participated as keynote speaker, addressing gender imbalances in the Danish academic system, with particular focus on careers and funding disparities. His data showed a glass ceiling for women in academia, but also that differences in external funding led to lower-than-expected research funding rates for those diseases, which affect women disproportionally more. Other participants in the conference included: Dicte Bjarup Thøgersen Anne Kjems Philipsen John Vissing Mona Ameri Chalmer Camilla Fabricius Lasse Gliemann Charlotte Cerqueira Cathrine Nygaard Christensen Bente Langdahl

It is a privilege and an honour for the Women's Brain Project to be one of the supporters of the EU Manifesto for Women’s Health. Women’s health is an unfinished agenda with large gaps and unmet needs persisting. Sex and gender are not systematically integrated into policy, programmes, education, training, research, data collection and analysis. In terms of brain and mental health, the manifesto highlights that women bear a disproportionate burden in conditions such as dementia, depression and anxiety. We were particularly delighted to see that the WBP-Commissioned Economist Impact White Paper is referenced stating that: Sex and gender affect the prevalence, onset and progression of neurological disorders. The most prevalent brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, migraine and multiple sclerosis are more common in women compared to men. WBP supports the European Institute of Women's Health, CLG (EIWH) in the call for an EU Strategy for Women’s Health and is delighted to see the establishment of the Women’s Health Interest Group in the European Parliament to focus on women’s health issues and drive gender equity in health agenda in Europe. Concerted action must be taken to improve women’s health in Europe by integrating sex and gender in research, disaggregating data by sex, gender and age, and translating sex and gender differences into regulatory and healthcare practice. That’s why WBP is establishing a Foundation, which will operate the Research Institute for Sex and Gender Precision Medicine.    EU Manifesto for Women’s Health 2024: https://lnkd.in/gkS2Bc6D More about the Women’s Health Interest Group: https://lnkd.in/dND8Vma3 WBP-Commissioned Economist Impact White Paper: https://lnkd.in/eEB8GVWt #HealthPolicy #Policy #WomensHealth #HealthPolicies #WomensHealthPolicy #PublicHealth

June 10 is #EqualResearchDay. Women weren't required in US clinical research until 1993. The Equal Research Day Collaborative has published a book that features 100 facts about gender disparities in healthcare research, access, and treatment. Check out this site to learn more about the facts, the book, and the gaps that we need to address to better understand and manage women's health: https://lnkd.in/e3aqHwfB