NIH Releases Strategic Plan for Research on the Health of Women

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) recently issued the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Research on the Health of Women 2024-2028. The release of the strategic plan aligns with the President’s Executive Order to Advance Women’s Health Research and Innovation. This strategic plan is driven by three guiding principles:

• Consider the complex intersection among multiple factors that affect the health of women.
• Include diverse populations of women in clinical research.
• Integrate perspectives from a diverse workforce of scientists with differing skills, knowledge and experience.

The plan focuses on five strategic research goals intended to advance research that examine multiple factors that influence the health of women; improve data science and data management practices to prevent and treat conditions affecting women; foster women scientists’ career development and promote scientific workforce training and education that advances the health of women; support basic and translational research to advance women’s health across the life course; and advance community-engaged science across the research and practice continuum. In addition to the release of the report, NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli, MD, released a video sharing her vision for the future of research on women’s health.

The plan encourages the use of innovative tools, approaches and resources for research on the health of women, which may include novel imaging techniques and data science. Specifically mentioned is The RADx® Tech for Maternal Health Challenge, which accelerates the development of home-based and point-of-care maternal health diagnostic devices, wearables, or other remote sensing technologies to enable extension of care and improve health outcomes in maternity care deserts.

For more information, contact Katie Grady, American College of Radiology® Government Affairs Director.