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[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 242 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 242

Celebrating 25 years of success from the Office of Research on Women's 
              Health at the National Institutes of Health.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 5, 2015

  Ms. Mikulski (for herself and Ms. Collins) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
                          Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               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 NIH-funded 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;
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;
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 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 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
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that--
            (1) ORWH has improved and saved the lives of countless 
        women worldwide and must remain intact for this and future 
        generations;
            (2) there remain striking sex and gender differences in 
        many diseases and conditions, on which ORWH should continue to 
        focus, including--
                    (A) autoimmune diseases;
                    (B) cancer;
                    (C) cardiovascular diseases;
                    (D) depression and brain disorders;
                    (E) Alzheimer's disease;
                    (F) diabetes;
                    (G) chronic diseases and disorders;
                    (H) infectious diseases;
                    (I) obesity; and
                    (J) addictive disorders;
            (3) ORWH must continue to focus on ensuring that NIH funds 
        biomedical research that considers sex as a basic biological 
        variable, across the research spectrum from basic to clinical 
        studies; and
            (4) the Director of the NIH should continue to consult and 
        involve ORWH on all matters related to the influence of sex and 
        gender on health, especially those pertaining to the 
        consideration of sex as a biological variable in research with 
        vertebrate animals and humans.
                                 <all>
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