240413 Moving Into the Future with New Dimensions and Strategies: A Vision of 2020 for Women's Health Research

Monday, October 31, 2011: 4:30 PM

Tamara Lewis-Johnson, MBA, MPH , Office of Special Populations and Research Training (OSPRT), DEA, NIAID, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD
Background: To create a new strategic plan for the Women's Health Research, the National Institute of Health's Office of Research on Women's Health established six strategic goals for advancing women's health research.

Objectives: The new strategic vision encompasses disease-specific research in a broader vision of women's health, with the goal of increasing the understanding of major diseases and conditions that disproportionately affect women's overall quality of life. The strategic vision will benefit not only women, but men, by increasing the understanding of the role of sex and gender factors in disease risk.

Methods: The NIH ORWH convened NIH program staff and researchers through five town hall meetings throughout the country. Scientific Workgroups were convened along with public testimony from constituent groups. Recommendations were developed to form the strategic plan.

Results: Six strategic goals were developed to map the future for the next ten years. The goals were : to increase sex differences research in basic science studies; to incorporate findings of sex/gender differences in the design and application of new technologies; to actualize personalized prevention, diagnostics and therapeutics for girls and women; to create strategic alliances and partnerships to maximize the domestic and global impact of women's health research; to develop new communication technologies to increase understanding of women's health and wellness research; and to employ innovative strategies to build a well trained and diverse women's health research workforce.

Conclusion: These goals represent a framework for shaping the future of Women's Health Research within the context of public health research.

Learning Areas:
Basic medical science applied in public health
Clinical medicine applied in public health
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
1. By the end of this session, participants will be able to list the six strategic goals for the future of Women's Health Research produced by the National Institutes of Health and demonstrate how these goals will advance public health in a variety of community settings. 2. Session participants will be able to describe how the strategic plan for Women's Health Research at the National Institutes of Health can be applied as a framework for building health communities.

Keywords: Public Health Research, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to present because I am reponsible for the coordination of women's health research at National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseasesa and pariticipated in the process that led to the development of this new vision for Women's Health Research at the NIH.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.