Women's health: Funding better research, saving more lives

For the first time in 30 years, the federal government is taking action to improve women's health through funding better research, a move that took shape in March with President Joe Biden's executive order promising hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. The administration says this initiative, supported by numerous federal agencies, will galvanize new research on a wide range of topics, such as heart disease, menopause, autoimmune disorders,  migraines, certain cancers. It will also address the barriers that women face in joining clinical trials, among other proposed actions. 

The last major initiative around women's health research came in 1993 with the passage of a law requiring women and minorities be included in all clinical research. Despite these efforts, women, and in particular minority women, continue to be underrepresented today. On this episode, host Sandra Lindsay, RN, speaks with Stacey Rosen, MD, and Nisha Parikh, MD, MPH, about the new push from the Biden Administration, the need to remedy these disparities, and what health systems, businesses, community groups and individuals can do to help. 

About the experts: 

Dr. Rosen is a renowned cardiologist and the Executive Director for Women's Health at Northwell Health.
Dr. Parikh recently joined Northwell as its system director for the Women's Heart Program in the Cardiovascular Institute and Katz Institute for Women’s Health.