Stay informed with the March ORWH Pulse (2024)

National Institutes of Health - Office of Research on Women's Health sent this bulletin at 03/29/2024 11:00 AM EDT

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March 2024

Launching into the Future and Building Upon the Past: The Intersection of Autoimmune Disease Awareness and Women’s History Months

March marks Autoimmune Disease Awareness Month, shedding light on the significant impact of these conditions, particularly on women’s health. Autoimmune diseases disproportionately affect the health of women. While approximately 8% of the U.S. population lives with an autoimmune disease, nearly 80% of those affected are women.

To comprehensively address autoimmune disease research, the Office of Autoimmune Disease Research (OADR-ORWH) was established in the Office of Research on Women’s Health in 2023. I encourage everyone to visit the webpage for more information, resources, and funding opportunities, and to read the June 2023 Director’s Message for an introduction to OADR-ORWH. In addition, the theme and feature story of the ORWH quarterly publication Women’s Health in Focus at NIH Volume 6, Issue 4 is “NIH Supports Research on Autoimmune Diseases in Women.” I invite you to read this issue to learn more about how autoimmune diseases affect women.

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President Biden Issues Executive Order on Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation

On March 18, 2024, President Joe Biden signed a new Executive Order (EO) that builds upon the establishment of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. This EO announces new actions to improve women’s health research by prioritizing investments in women’s health research, integrating women’s health across the federal research portfolio, galvanizing new research on women’s midlife health, and assessing the unmet needs to support women’s health research. In coordination with the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research, ORWH and several NIH institutes and centers issued a Notice of Special Interest (NOSI) highlighting interest in receiving research applications focused on diseases and health conditions that predominantly affect women or are female-specific.

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60th NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health Meeting

The 60th meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health (ACRWH) will be held virtually for the public on April 9 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:35 p.m. EDT.

ACRWH, a Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) committee, was established to provide advice and make recommendations on priority issues impacting women’s health and sex differences research. ACRWH advises the ORWH director on appropriate NIH research activities, reviews NIH’s women’s health research portfolio, surveys goals for scientific career development, and assesses the inclusion of women and minorities in NIH clinical research. ACRWH members include physicians, practitioners, scientists, and other non-federal health professionals.

Visit the event page for the full agenda and videocast link.

Meet the 2023 EXACT-PLAN Award Recipients

The Office of Autoimmune Disease Research in the Office of Research on Women’s Health (OADR-ORWH) awarded six researchers for the Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): EXposome in Autoimmune Disease Collaborating Teams PLANning (EXACT-PLAN) Awards. This NOSI is a collaborative effort between OADR-ORWH, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and NIH institutes, centers, and offices engaged in autoimmune disease research.

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Meet the 2024 NIH ORWH Science Policy Scholar Travel Award Recipient

Congratulations are in order! ORWH recently awarded Mayte Restrepo, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.A., the 2024 Science Policy Scholar Travel Award. The annual award supports the development of a junior investigator who is focused on women’s health or sex and gender differences and is also interested in research policy.

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Read In the Spotlight Articles

Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Women’s Health Research (NOT-OD-24-079)
First available due date May 6, 2024

NOSI Research to Improve Pre-Pregnancy Care and Enhance Healthy Birth Intervals (NOT-HD-23-003)
Applications will be accepted through May 8, 2024

NOSI: Promoting Vaccine Access, Acceptance and Uptake among Children, Adolescents, Pregnant and Lactating Women, and Persons with Disabilities (NOT-HD-21-038)
Applications will be accepted through May 8, 2024

Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (Parent K01 – Independent Clinical Trial Required) (PA-20-176)
Applications will be accepted through May 8, 2024

NOSI: Reproductive Health, Pregnancy, and Parenting among Women with Disabilities (NOT-HD-21-025)
Applications will be accepted through May 31, 2024

NOSI: Health Influences of Gender as a Social and Structural Variable (NOT-OD-24-038)
Applications will be accepted through October 1, 2025

Interventions to Address HIV-Related Comorbidities among Highly Affected Populations Experiencing Health Disparities (R01 - Clinical Trial Required) (RFA-MD-24-003)
Applications will be accepted through December 12, 2025

Additional Funding Opportunities