Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #112412

Nicole C. Quon, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University, PO Box 208034, 60 College Street, Room 310, New Haven, CT 06520-8034, 203-589-9188, nicole.quon@yale.edu

In the 1990s, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) came under criticism from advocates concerned about women's health. Disease advocacy groups persuaded Congress to mandate the NIH to include more women in clinical trials, the National Breast Cancer Coalition successfully lobbied for an 800% increase in research funding, and the NIH funded the Women's Health Initiative. The roles of politicians and patients in the women's health movement are well documented during this period. However, women's health activists had been lobbying for many years with less success, and little is known about the role of women scientists in changing NIH priorities for other diseases on the women's health agenda.

This paper empirically analyzes the impact of the women's health movement from 1972 to 2004 by assessing whether the NIH prioritized diseases that affect women, increased participation of women on study sections and advisory councils, or funded more grants to female scientists. The study utilizes a new dataset that includes measures of congressional and presidential attention, interest group pressure, media coverage, participation by female scientists and politicians, and the public health impact of illnesses that affect women. By examining NIH decisions over a thirty year period, changing patterns of NIH support for women's health and women scientists emerge that correspond to the changing roles of women in society and the evolution of the women's health agenda.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify trends in NIH support for women’s health research and women scientists
• Evaluate the impact of women scientists and political pressure on NIH priority setting
• Assess whether NIH grant funding corresponds with public health need

Keywords: Women's Health, Politics

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.