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• Posted February 22, 2024

Jill Biden Announces $100 Million for Research on Women's Health

First Lady Jill Biden on Wednesday announced $100 million in federal funding to fuel research into women's health.

"We will build a health care system that puts women and their lived experiences at its center,"Biden said in a White House news release announcing the initiative. "Where no woman or girl has to hear that 'it's all in your head,' or, 'it's just stress.'"Where women aren't just an afterthought, but a first thought. Where women don't just survive with chronic conditions, but lead long and healthy lives."

Biden noted that science hasn't paid enough attention to the health conditions that many women face.

"Research on women's health has always been underfunded, many medical studies have focused on men and left women out, many of the medicine dosages, treatments, medical school textbooks, are based on men and their bodies -- and that information doesn't always apply to women," she added. "There are big gaps in research on diseases and conditions that only affect women, that disproportionately affect women, or that affect women and men differently."

The funding is the first concrete step taken as part of the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research, which was announced late last year, the Associated Press reported. The money comes from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, which falls under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Exactly where will the money go? The $100 million will fund "life-changing"work being done by women's health researchers and startup companies that can't get private support for their research and development, Biden said.

The initiative was the brainchild of a meeting she had with Maria Shriver, a women's health advocate and former California first lady, Biden said. During that meeting, Shriver spoke of the need for a public-private effort to close critical gaps in women's health research, Biden added.

The White House Initiative on Women's Health Research is led by Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council.

More information

Visit the Office on Women's Health for more on women's health.

SOURCE: White House, news release, Feb. 21, 2024; Associated Press