Backed by a new $4.6 million award from the National Institutes of Health, or NIH, Michigan State University researchers are launching a novel project to transform how medications are developed and prescribed for women. This is the first installment of an award worth up to $12.8 million over three years. Researchers from Rutgers, Emory, Tulane, University of Colorado Anschutz, University of Michigan and University of Utah are collaborating with the MSU team to accomplish this goal, which the lead scientist describes as a moon shot.
Clinical trials often fail to account for the unique ways female hormones change throughout life — such as during menstrual cycles, pregnancy, birth control use, menopause and hormone replacement therapy. This oversight can lead to treatments that are less effective or cause more severe side effects in women than in men.
To bridge this gap, 13 researchers are collaborating to build advanced computer models that will predict how a woman’s natural hormonal changes affect how medicines move through and act within the body. Their findings are expected to result in stronger research studies, advances in precision medicine and better real-world outcomes for women.