The Vital Role of ORWH

Abstract

We would like to address misconceptions created by the News story “Women abound in NIH trials” (Special Section on Clinical Trials and Tribulations, 10 October 2008, p. [219][1]), in which C. Holden questions whether the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) is still needed at NIH. The importance of ORWH extends well beyond ensuring that women are included in clinical trials. It also plays a unique role in promoting and funding science and career development in women's health and gender biology. ORWH initiatives ([1][2]) strengthen and enhance interdisciplinary and translational research related to conditions that affect women and men, and they support the recruitment, retention, reentry, and advancement of women in biomedical careers. ORWH funds or co-funds research and career development grants through the NIH institutes and centers, and it advances research on women's health and related sex/gender factors. In addition, ORWH pioneered a K-12 mentored career development program to support the training of junior faculty researchers in women's health research. This innovative program has served as a model for career development awards throughout the NIH. 1. 1.[↵][3] Office of Research on Women's Health ( ). 2. 2. The authors are all directors or co-directors of NIH/ORWH Specialized Centers of Research on Sex and Gender Factors Affecting Women's Health (SCORs) funded by ORWH and sponsoring NIH institutes. [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.322.5899.219 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1. in text