During a Women’s History Month reception at the White House on Monday, President Joe Biden announced an executive order focused on women’s health research. Called “Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation,” Executive Order 14120 solidifies women’s health research as a priority for the federal government.
“With the executive order I’m about to sign, I’m directing the most comprehensive set of executive actions ever taken to improve women’s health. Ever taken. And I’m going to ensure women’s health is integrated and prioritized across the entire federal government,” said Biden during the event.
“For too long women’s health research has been underfunded and understudied,” said Carolyn Mazure, PhD, chair of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. “We still know too little about how to effectively prevent, diagnose, and treat a wide array of health conditions in women.” Mazure is the director of Women’s Health Research at Yale, Norma Weinberg Spungen and Joan Lebson Bildner Professor in Women’s Health, and professor of psychiatry and of psychology.
Among the invited guests attending the event were John Krystal, MD, Robert C. McNeil Jr. Professor of Translational Research, chair and professor of psychiatry, and professor of neuroscience and psychology; and Hugh Taylor, MD, chair and Anita O’Keeffe Young Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences; and professor of molecular, cellular & developmental biology.
The new executive order integrates women’s health across the federal research portfolio, prioritizes investments in women’s health research, galvanizes new research on women’s midlife health, and directs the federal government to assess unmet needs in relation to women’s health.
During her remarks, first lady Dr. Jill Biden underscored the momentum in women’s health research since the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research was launched in November 2023, including the first-ever Sprint for Women’s Health, led by ARPA-H (the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health) and representing $100 million in current funding as well as the $200 million that the National Institutes of Health is dedicating to interdisciplinary research on women’s health. In addition, President Biden called on Congress to invest $12 billion in women’s health research during the State of the Union earlier this month.
Federal agencies also announced new actions they are taking as members of the initiative in five key areas. These areas include prioritizing and increasing investments in women’s health research; fostering innovation and discovery in women’s health; expanding and leveraging data collection and analysis related to women’s health; strengthening coordination, infrastructure, and training to support women’s health research; and improving women’s health across the lifespan.
“Today, as we celebrate Women’s History Month, let’s write a new future for ourselves, and for the girls and women who will follow. A future where women leave doctors’ offices with more answers than questions... A future where women don’t just survive; they lead long, healthy, and happy lives,” said Dr. Biden.