President Biden Issues Executive Order to Advance Women’s Health Research

On March 18, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order, titled “Advancing Women’s Health Research and Innovation.” This order directs specific advancements and improvements for research on women’s health, largely through the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, established by the Presidential Memorandum of November 13, 2023.

The Initiative draws on interdisciplinary backgrounds to advance research on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of conditions that affect women uniquely, disproportionately, or differently. This order now names the following topics of interest: women’s midlife health, addressing current gaps in research, and integrating women’s health research into federal research programs. These directions align with the President’s priorities to reduce health disparities, to translate research into real-life applications, and to ensure access to high-quality, evidence-based health care. The Executive Order coincided with many announcements made by federal agencies to promote women’s health research.

The Executive Order was published in the Federal Register on March 21.