Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Research on the Health of Women of Understudied, Underrepresented and Underreported (U3) Populations (Admin Supp Clinical Trial Optional)

The Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) announces the availability of administrative supplements to support research highlighting health inequities among women in the United States who are understudied, underrepresented and underreported (U3) in biomedical research. Robust studies exploring sex and gender influences and social determinants of health are needed to reduce inequities. The proposed research must address at least one objective from strategic goals 1, 2, or 3 of the “2019-2023 Trans-NIH Strategic Plan for Women’s Health Research, Advancing Science for the Health of Women.”

Women account for over half of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Women and girls belonging to certain populations - including, but not limited to, NIH-designated health disparities populations; persons experiencing homelessness, institutionalization, or incarceration; persons having physical, intellectual, or sensory disabilities; and immigrants—bear a disproportionate burden of health risks, disease prevalence, and poorer health outcomes. Additionally, underrepresentation in data reporting and biomedical research hinders unique opportunities to learn more about associations between personal identity, sociocultural factors, and health.

There is a complex intersection of internal biological (e.g., hormonal function) and external social and structural forces (e.g., social determinants of health, experiences of trauma) that play a role in the health status, disease presentation, treatment responses, and health-related quality of life of women across the life course. In 2014, ORWH published “The Women of Color Health Data Book, 4th edition,” which consists of U.S. government-sourced, population-based health, and disease data. This publication highlights the urgent need to improve understanding of the etiologies of health and health care inequities among populations of women disadvantaged by social determinants of health (e.g., racism) and the mechanisms that contribute to the downstream health effects.

This NOSI encourages rigorous experimental designs, as well as the implementation of collaborative interdisciplinary research on the common causes and pathways of ill health and disease, differential risk, morbidity, and mortality, across socioecological domains and levels of influence. To help meet group- and population-level needs with culturally and contextually relevant approaches, this NOSI also encourages thoughtful incorporation of intersectionality into research by applying the NIMHD Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Framework. Lastly, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified longstanding challenges and barriers. This NOSI will support work to address the challenges faced by women and girls with respect to gendered work, lower paid positions/economic instability, gender-based violence, and unsafe housing—including when they intersect with bias and discrimination associated with race, sexual orientation, disability, age, and socioeconomic status. To strengthen and accelerate multidisciplinary disparities research in women’s health, this opportunity encourages the partnership of junior and senior investigators, as well as experienced women’s health researchers, with those with expertise in health disparities.

Application Due Date(s) – January 31, 2023

NOT-OD-22-208