IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 458 

Celebrating 25 years of success from the Office of Research on Women’s 

Health at the National Institutes of Health. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 1, 2015 

Mrs. NOEM (for herself, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Ms. FRANKEL

of Florida, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. MICHELLE

LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Ms. JENKINS of Kansas, Ms. SPEIER, 

Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Ms. JUDY CHU

of California, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Mrs. HARTZLER, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. TORRES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, 

Miss RICE of New York, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. LUMMIS, 

Ms. MOORE, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. HAHN, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. 

MENG, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mrs. ELLMERS of North Carolina, Mrs. 

BUSTOS, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. ROYBALALLARD, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Ms. NORTON, Ms. EDWARDS, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Ms. STEFANIK, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. DEGETTE, Mrs. DINGELL, 

Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. KUSTER, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mrs. 

WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. BROWN

of Florida, Ms. DELBENE, Ms. ESTY, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of 

New York, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Ms. GRAHAM, 

Ms. LEE, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Ms. FUDGE, Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California, Ms. LOFGREN, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Ms. GABBARD, Mrs. BLACK, Ms. MCSALLY, Ms. 

FOXX, Mrs. ROBY, Mrs. WAGNER, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, and Ms. 

PLASKETT) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 


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RESOLUTION 

Celebrating 25 years of success from the Office of Research 

on Women’s Health at the National Institutes of Health. 

Whereas, on September 10, 1990, the Office of Research on 

Women’s Health (in this resolution referred to as 

‘‘ORWH’’) was established at the National Institutes of 

Health (in this resolution referred to as ‘‘NIH’’) to— 

(1) ensure that women were included in NIH-funded 

clinical research; 

(2) set research priorities to address gaps in scientific knowledge; and 

(3) promote biomedical research careers for women; 

Whereas ORWH was established in law by the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993 (Public Law 

103–43; 107 Stat. 122) and implemented the law requiring researchers to include women in NIH-funded tests of 

new drugs and other clinical trials; 

Whereas today, more than 1⁄2 of the participants in NIHfunded clinical trials are women, enabling the development of clinical approaches to prevention, diagnosis, or 

treatment appropriate for women; 

Whereas in 2015, ORWH, with enthusiastic support from 

NIH leadership, announced that, beginning in January 

2016, NIH-funded scientists must account for the possible role of sex as a biological variable in vertebrate animal and human studies; 

Whereas ORWH, along with NIH leadership, enhances 

awareness of the need to adhere to principles of rigor and 

transparency, including the need to publish sex-specific 

results to inform the treatment of women, men, boys, and 

girls; 


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Whereas over the past 25 years, ORWH has helped expand 

research on women’s health beyond its roots in reproductive health to include— 

(1) the study of the health of women across the lifespans of women; and 

(2) biomedical and behavioral research from cells to 

selves; 

Whereas by studying both sexes, ORWH is leading the scientific community to make discoveries headed toward 

treatments that are more personalized for both women 

and men; 

Whereas today, ORWH communicates through programs and 

policies that sex and gender affect health, wellness, and 

how diseases progress; 

Whereas turning discovery into health for all, the NIH motto, 

means studying both females and males across the biomedical research continuum; 

Whereas the ORWH Specialized Centers of Research on Sex 

Differences program supports established scientists who 

do basic, clinical, and translational research with a sex 

and gender focus; 

Whereas all NIH Institutes and Centers fund and encourage 

scientists at universities across the Nation to conduct research on the health of women and on sex and gender influences; 

Whereas over the past 25 years, ORWH has established several career-enhancement initiatives for women in biomedicine, including the Building Interdisciplinary Research 

Careers in Women’s Health program that connects junior 

faculty with mentors who share interests in women’s 

health research; 


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Whereas ORWH co-directs the NIH Working Group on 

Women in Biomedical Careers, which develops and evaluates policies to promote the recruitment, retention, and 

sustained advancement of women scientists; 

Whereas the Women’s Health Initiative (in this resolution referred to as ‘‘WHI’’) marked the first long-term study of 

its kind and resulted in a wealth of information so that 

women and their physicians can make more informed decisions regarding postmenopausal hormone therapy; 

Whereas WHI reduced the incidence of breast cancer by 

10,000 to 15,000 cases per year, and the overall health 

care savings far exceeded the WHI investment; 

Whereas ORWH supported the National Cancer Institute’s 

development of a vaccine that prevents the transmission 

of Human Papilloma Virus, resulting in a decrease in the 

number of cases of cervical cancer; 

Whereas in 1994, ORWH co-sponsored with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases a landmark 

study, the results of which showed that giving the drug 

AZT to HIV-infected women with little or no prior 

antiretroviral therapy reduced the risk of mother-to-child 

transmission of HIV by 2⁄3; 

Whereas according to the Centers for Disease Control and 

Prevention (CDC), perinatal HIV infections in the 

United States have dropped by more than 90 percent; 

Whereas ORWH co-funded a large clinical study of the genetic and environmental risk factors for ischemic stroke, 

which identified a strong relationship between the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the probability of 

ischemic stroke in young women, prompting the targeting 


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of smoking as a preventable and modifiable risk factor 

for cerebrovascular disease in young women; and 

Whereas over the past 25 years, ORWH has contributed support toward major advances in knowledge about the genetic risk for breast cancer, and discovery of the BRCA1 

and BRCA2 genetic risk markers has enabled better-informed genetic counseling and treatment for members of 

families that carry mutant alleles: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) commends the ORWH for its work over the 

3 past 25 years to improve and save the lives of 

4 women worldwide and must remain intact for this 

5 and future generations; 

6 (2) recognizes that there remain striking sex 

7 and gender differences among many diseases and 

8 conditions on which the ORWH should continue to 

9 focus; 

10 (3) encourages the ORWH to continue to focus 

11 on ensuring that the NIH supports biomedical re12 search that considers sex as a biological variable 

13 across the research spectrum; and 

14 (4) encourages the Director of the NIH to con15 tinue to consult and involve the ORWH on all mat16 ters related to the influence of sex and gender on 

17 health, especially those pertaining to the considerVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:41 Oct 01, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR458.IH HR458

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•HRES 458 IH 

1 ation of sex as a biological variable in research with 

2 vertebrate animals and humans. 

Æ 


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