NIH maintains low priority on research on gender differences, says health advocacy group

NIH maintains low priority on research on gender differences, says health advocacy group

Research on the biological and health differences between men and women remains a low priority at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to a report released on Tuesday by the Society for Women's Health Research. The society, a Washington-based advocacy organization, cites increasing evidence of the importance of such research.

Although research on sexual differences is important in all types of biological studies, the report says that from 2000 to 2003 only about 3% of all NIH grants went to projects on the differences between men and women, despite a 20% increase in the total number of NIH grant awarded. A spokesman for the NIH said the agency was reviewing the report and declined further comment.

The institute or center providing the highest level of support for gender related research is the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), which awarded 8% of its grants to such research. The centers with the biggest extramural budgets, such as the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, ranked low in support for studies on sexual and gender differences.

To increase the level of support, the society recommends updating NIH guidelines to promote that type of research and issuing an NIH-wide public announcement inviting applications for the research.

The full text of the report, "National Institutes of Health: Intramural and Extramural Support for Research on Sex Differences, 2000-2003," is available on the center's web site at www.womenshealthresearch.org/. It can be viewed using Adobe Reader, available free.

Source: Chronicle of Higher Education. May 11, 2005