Celebrating 25 years of success from the Office of Research on Womens Health at the National Institutes of Health.

Celebrating 25 years of success from the Office of Research on Womens Health at the National Institutes of Health. Whereas, on September 10, 1990, the Office of Research on Womens Health (in this resolution referred to as ORWH NIH (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 10343 Whereas, today, more than 1/2 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 womens 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 Womens Health program that connects junior faculty with mentors who share interests in womens 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 Womens Health Initiative (in this resolution referred to as WHI 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 Institutes 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 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) Alzheimers 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.

Summary: Commends the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for its work over the past 25 years to improve and save the lives of women worldwide. Expresses that the ORWH must remain intact for this and future generations. Recognizes that there remain striking sex and gender differences among many diseases and conditions on which the ORWH should continue to focus. Encourages the ORWH to continue to focus on ensuring that NIH supports biomedical research that considers sex as a biological variable. Encourages the NIH to continue to consult and involve the ORWH on all matters related to the influence of sex and gender on health.