Your eyes are the windows to the world In this Heart & Soul article, Dr. Janine Clayton discusses the importance of maintaining eye health to prevent blindness from diabetes. (November 2016)
Reporting Sex, Gender, or Both in Clinical Research? In this JAMA Viewpoint, Dr. Janine Clayton explains the differences between sex and gender and how clinical research needs to account for these variables since hormones, genes, and gender-related environmental exposures all affect human health. (November 2016)
Considering sex as a biological variable in preclinical research A guide in The FASEB Journal for preclinical investigators as they consider methods and techniques for inclusion of both sexes in preclinical research. (September 28, 2016; subscription required)
A new divide in American death In The Washington Post, Dr. Janine Clayton discusses the urban-rural mortality gap emerging among white women. (April 2016)
A Fix For Gender-Bias In Animal Research Could Help Humans NPR's All Things Considered discusses the new condition for NIH funding that researchers must include male and female animals in their biomedical studies. Dr. Janine Clayton was interviewed for the article and radio piece. (February 2016)
2015
GAO: NIH needs to do more to ensure research evaluates gender differences According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, NIH remains unable to determine whether researchers are examining outcomes by sex to see whether men and women are affected differently by what is being tested. Scientists are required to analyze results by sex in most cases, but NIH has no central process for collecting the information or making it available. The GAO says that NIH cannot assure Congress that it is supporting research that can "shape improved medical practice for both women and men." (December 2015)
Here's Why Some Feminists Have A Problem With The Feds' New Animal Testing Rules In a commentary published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, four researchers argue that NIH's new policy that NIH-funded animal experiments must consider both males and females will not actually fix the health disparities between the sexes, because these differences are driven not only by biological factors, but social ones. Critics worry that putting so much emphasis on hard-wired sex differences in animals could lead scientists to draw misleading, or even harmful comparisons. (December 2015)
Modeling the Female Reproductive Tract in 3-D: The Birth of EVATAR™ Dr. Janine Clayton was interviewed on the importance of EVATAR, a 3-D representation of the female reproductive tract, as a part of this feature article on the model's development. Supported by a National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences project cofounded by ORWH, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, researchers from Northwestern University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, and the University of Illinois at Chicago have developed EVATAR to better test drugs' effects and better understand the basic biology of female reproduction. (August 2015)
Why Science Needs Female Mice The New York Times Editorial Board discusses NIH's new policy requiring NIH-funded scientists to consider the biological variable sex in preclinical research studies. (July 2015)
Men Are The Model: Why We Don't Know Nearly Enough About How Meds Affect Women Dr. Janine Clayton was included among other experts in this in-depth Refinery29 article looking at issues of inclusion in health research, and the need to consider the biological variable sex from the very start: in preclinical research. "We want to be sure that considering sex as a biological variable is not an afterthought," she said. (July 2015)
'Faces of Clinical Research' Speak at Women's Health Week Event Clinical research panelists share experiences at the May 2015 ORWH event celebrating National Women's Health Week. Held to recognize the importance of women and diversity in clinical research, the NIH Record covers the event and captures the stories of panelists. (July 2015)
Sex Differences And Pain Over the past 15 years, neuroscientists have pieced together one particular biological circuit that they think is involved in some chronic pain conditions. But work on this mechanism left out some important subjects: females. In Chemical & Engineering News, Dr. Janine Clayton comments on this new study that highlights the risk of ignoring sex in biomedical research. "The study is another in a growing number of examples showing how sex influences biology from cells to selves," said Dr. Clayton. "Studies like this show that it's vital to study both sexes." (July 2015)
Hey, Medicine: Stop Ignoring the Existence of Women Dr. Janine Clayton talks to OZY about the importance of considering both sexes in preclinical research, and what it means for understanding female biology and women's health. (May 2015)
The Surprisingly Simple Factor That Could Be Affecting Your Health The first step to preventing and treating illness is asking a simple question: What's your sex? Learn why—and what it means for you in the March issue of Real Simple magazine, which includes Dr. Janine Clayton. (March 2015)
In a podcast by the Academy of Women's Health in partnership with NIH's Office of Research on Women's Health, Dr. Janine Clayton talks about women of color and their unique health needs, and how the Women of Color Health Data Book, 4th Edition, can assist clinicians in providing person-centered care for diverse populations of women. She joins Dr. Susan Kornstein, the Academy of Women's Health President and Journal of Women's Health Editor and Dr. George A. Mensah, Director, Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science, NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, for this discussion. View podcast transcript. (March 2015)
2014
In Focus on Sex , The Scientist highlights new research findings and guidelines that brought increased attention to the biological differences between males and females in 2014. (December 2014)
Dr. Janine Clayton was interviewed for Discover magazine's Top 100 Stories of 2014. In Top-to-Bottom Sex Bias in Labs Skews Results , she comments on the blind spot that has resulted from studying only one sex, and the need to study both sexes to strengthen science. (December 2014)
On September 23, 2014, ORWH and the NIH Common Fund announced $10.1 million in supplemental funding to bolster the research of 82 grantees to explore the effects of sex in preclinical and clinical studies. (September 2014)
In a Nature Comment published on May 14, 2014, Dr. Francis Collins and Dr. Janine Clayton outlined NIH steps to address sex differences in preclinical research. This news was covered widely in the media. (May 2014)
Where We've Been, Where We're Going In this NIH podcast on women's health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Director Dr. Alan Guttmacher sat down with Dr. Clayton to discuss advances in women's health research and possible future directions. (May 8, 2014)
New Inroads Call for Improving Gender Equity in Biomedical Research The importance of gender-specific research and the dangers of excluding gender as a critical study variable are discussed in the AAMC Reporter. Dr. Clayton: "Women's health needs to be conducted in all areas—nearly everyone researching human health should be doing some women's health research." (April 2014)
Women and Eye Disease Dr. Clayton guest blogs for See Jane See, explaining that more women than men face vision-related issues. (March 12, 2014)
Clinical trials seek greater diversity Dr. Clayton explains that NIH-supported clinical trials are required to include women and members of racial and ethnic groups as a practice of good science in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. (March 8, 2014)
Women vs. Men: Major differences in heart health In this segment from HER Radio, Dr. Clayton provides examples of how research has taught us how to treat women and men differently with respect to health management. (February 27, 2014)
Global Health Matters Dr. Clayton answers questions about the role of gender in global health research in this issue of Global Health Matters, NIH's Fogarty International Center's newsletter. (September 2013)
Women's Health — Respect at Last (PDF - 1.0 MB) Dr. Clayton and other women's health advocates discuss issues pertinent to the expanding field of women's health. (September-October 2013)
Congressional Briefing: What's Ailing America? Shorter Lives, Poorer Health This issue of COSSA Washington Update features expert discussion relating to the report, U.S. Health in International Perspective: Shorter Lives, Poorer Health, including Dr. Clayton's reflections on how the findings and research recommendations relate to women in America. (October 7, 2013)
An Eye on Gender and Health In the Johns Hopkins University Arts & Sciences Magazine, alum Dr. Clayton talks about her path to becoming an advocate for women's health. (Spring 2013)
Women's Health: More than 'Bikini Medicine' On National Public Radio's "Tell Me More" with Michel Martin, Dr. Clayton discusses the changing field of women's health and how it's much broader than reproductive health. (March 25, 2013)
The Drug-Dose Gender Gap Studies have shown that women respond differently than men to many drugs, from aspirin to anesthesia. Dr. Clayton emphasizes that there is much to be learned and that the case of zolpidem is just the "tip of the iceberg." (January 28, 2013)