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Women’s Health Initiative

The Current State: From high blood pressure, to depression, to autoimmune conditions, women are suffering at higher rates from many illnesses and diseases. Furthermore, exclusion of women from clinical trials and a lack of organized capital [1,2] have hampered our understanding of any sex-based variation in diseases that present across genders.

The Challenge: This has resulted in a general underrepresentation and lack of focus on women’s health. Not understanding and studying these nuances impacts not only patients, but also employers and the healthcare system.
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The application period will run from Sept. 23 – Dec. 6, 2024 at 1 p.m. EST.

Funding Inequities in Women's Health Research

Funding for conditions that predominantly affect women is insufficient. However, increasing investment could lead to significant benefits. Use the buttons below to explore the data. For the best experience, we recommend viewing this on larger screens, such as desktops.
Women are
50-75%
more likely than men to have an adverse drug reaction across all therapeutic indications [3].

80%
of drugs that have been pulled from the market over safety concerns are due to adverse effects specifically in women.
womenshealth e1720330409588

Working Toward Solutions

While some progress has been made, from increased female participation in clinical trials to women’s health in general being better defined, more work remains [4].

The MLSC aims to support and incentivize translational project teams developing novel solutions in this area of need. The Center’s Women’s Health Initiative strives to turn the tide against the severe lack of organized capital and incentives around a coordinated Women’s Health approach.

With continued strategic investment in this area, Massachusetts is poised to become the leader in the Women’s Health space.

Our Focus

The MLSC launched its Women’s Health Initiative in 2020 to support efforts which increase understanding of sex and gender differences in biology (that has translational potential) or developing solutions for diseases or conditions that affect women solely, disproportionately, or differently.

The MLSC has deployed more than $19 million across 60 projects in collaboration with 15 companies, fostering advancements in translational research.

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Our Focus

The MLSC launched its Women’s Health Initiative in 2020 to support efforts which increase understanding of sex and gender differences in biology (that has translational potential) or developing solutions for diseases or conditions that affect women solely, disproportionately, or differently.

The MLSC has deployed more than $19 million across 60 projects in collaboration with 15 companies, fostering advancements in translational research.

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invested by the MLSC to support

0 Projects
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$ 0 Million

in follow-on funding received

Our Focus

The MLSC launched its Women’s Health Initiative in 2020 to support efforts which increase understanding of sex and gender differences in biology (that has translational potential) or developing solutions for diseases or conditions that affect women solely, disproportionately, or differently.

The MLSC has deployed more than $19 million across 60 projects in collaboration with 15 companies, fostering advancements in translational research.

Deployed more than

$ 0 Million

in projects that factor advancements in transitional research

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Deployed funds across

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in collaboration with

0 Companies

Building a Women’s Health Pipeline

The current programs offered through the Initiative focus on increasing the number of translatable opportunities in women’s health at Massachusetts research institutions.

The program supports early-stage exploratory translational research that furthers our understanding of sex and gender differences for diseases or conditions that affect women in collaboration with the Connor’s Center for Women’s Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

The Women’s Health Innovation Grants target innovations that have translational potential and preliminary supporting data, but still require a key set of proof of concept experiments prior to attracting a commercial partner or spinning out into a new company.

The Women’s Health Collaboration Program supports collaborative projects that aim to improve the discovery, technical innovation, and/or analysis of datasets to answer pressing life science questions around women’s health.
[1] Estimates of Funding for Various Research, Condition, and Disease Categories. NIH RePORT. 2022. https://report.nih.gov/funding/categorical-spending#/
[2] Mirin, A. Gender Disparity in the Funding of Diseases by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Journal of Women’s Health 2021 30:7, 956-963
[3] Tharpe, N. Adverse drug reactions in women’s health care. J Midwifery Womens Health. 2011 56(3):205-13. PMID: 21535369.
[4] Vasquez-Avila, K. Addressing the critical role of gender identity and sex in the planning, analysis, and conduct of clinical trials. Princ Pract Clin Res. 2021;7(2):59-62. PMID: 34532571.

Connect with us to learn more

If you have questions regarding the application process, e-mail WomensHealth@masslifesciences.com.

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