White House to host first-ever Conference on Women’s Health Research

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will host the first-ever White House Conference on Women’s Health Research on Wednesday, according to details shared with The Hill.

The Washington Post first reported the news late Tuesday.

Business and philanthropic leaders, academic researchers, women’s health advocates, investors and federal agency representatives will discuss scientific innovations in women’s health care and the business of investing in women’s health, according to a White House official.

The Biden administration launched an initiative last year aimed at closing the decades-long gap in women’s health research. Biden issued an executive order early this year directing agencies to accelerate or expand research on women’s health and strengthen their data collection to “prevent, diagnose, and treat conditions” that affect women uniquely or differently than men.

Health conditions that mainly affect women have long been under-researched, and that research and historically been underfunded compared to studies examining diseases and health conditions primarily impacting men.

Women’s health research is underfunded in both the private and public sectors. A recent report from The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine found that about 9 percent of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) research spending between 2013 and 2023 went to women’s health research.

The report also found that NIH grant funding has increased overall since 2013 in funds spent and projects funded. But the agency's funding for women's health research shrank every year between 2013 and 2023.

It’s unclear whether expanding women’s health research is a priority for the incoming Trump administration. Some Democratic lawmakers fear President-elect Trump will roll back progress made in women’s health research under the Biden administration.

Women's health research advocates are hopeful that continued progress can be made next year, given the bipartisan efforts made in both the House and the Senate to pass bills on women's health.

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