Shirin Heidari, the Executive Director of GENDRO and Senior Researcher at the Gender Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland, was born in Tehran 6 years before the 1979 Iranian revolution. Coming from a family with “many strong women as role models, and always a sense of activism”, the revolution, which “resulted in a regime oppressing women, men, as well as any dissidents, followed by political oppression and war”, left her with “a very strong distaste for injustice”, and a profound awareness, “very early on”, of the devastating impacts of “a lack of rights, and the lack of a justice system”.
Pain & Prejudice: Inside The Rise (And Rise) Of Medical Misogyny
We’re thrilled to share that GENDRO was recently featured in ELLE UK in an article on medical misogyny and the urgent need for equity in health research. Shirin Heidari, GENDRO’s founding president, spoke about the systemic exclusion of women from medical studies and the lasting consequences for women’s health. As the article highlights, gender-aware research isn’t just necessary—it’s long overdue.
Read the full article here and explore our upcoming events to learn how we’re pushing this conversation forward.
Have you ever thought about how biological sex and gender norms might influence development of different cancers and treatment outcomes?
Why do women experience worse toxicity side effects than men whilst receiving chemotherapy but have significantly better survival outcomes?
Why do non-smoking women get lung cancer at a higher rate than non-smoking men?
And what are the implications for how we should be studying cancer therapies and treating patients to optimise outcomes for the future?
Our Expert Guests:
🔹 PD Dr. Berna Özdemir – Senior Medical Oncology Consultant specialising in melanoma and GU cancer at University Hospital Bern, and founding member of the ESMO Gender Taskforce.
🔹 Shirin Heidari – Founding President of the not-for-profit organisation GENDRO and a driving force behind the SAGER (Sex and Gender Equity in Research) guidelines.
27 January 2025 | GENDRO and 22 civil society and academic partners
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (27 January 2025) The recent decisions by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to eliminate resources promoting diversity in clinical trials1, and the removal of information on NOH website about the NIH Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office (SGMRO)2, which coordinates sexual and gender minority (SGM)-related research, represent significant setbacks in addressing gender and other biases in medical research. These actions threaten to undermine decades of progress aimed at ensuring medical studies and health research accurately reflect the diverse populations they are intended to serve. Diverse representation in clinical trials is not merely a matter of equity; it is essential for scientific validity. The exclusion or underrepresentation of certain groups can lead to findings that are not generalisable, potentially compromising patient care and outcomes. Without efforts to address gender and other biases in health research, health disparities will deepen, and social inequities will persist.
Women’s underrepresentation in clinical trials and inadequate attention to sex and gender dimensions in clinical studies have already been shown to cause risks to women’s health. For instance, a 2001 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that eight out of ten prescription drugs withdrawn from the U.S. market since 1997 posed greater health risks for women than for men.3 In addition, in 2013, the FDA issued a safety notice recognising sex differences in the metabolism of the drug zolpidem and lowered the recommended dose for women to mitigate next-morning impairment risks.4 These examples showcase how neglecting sex and gender aspects can undermine the generalisability of medical research and underscore the importance of considering sex and gender factors in drug trials before drug approvals.
Likewise, the risk of removal of initiatives such as the SGMRO further marginalises populations already underrepresented in research, leaving their unique health needs at risk of being neglected. This action deepens the disparities faced by people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identities and expression and sex characteristics, further excluding them from the evidence base that informs diagnostics, treatments, and policies, and ultimately limiting advancements in equitable healthcare.
We call upon the European Medicines Agency and other regulatory and research bodies worldwide to intensify their commitment to ensuring that medical and health research reflects the diversity of the populations it serves. It is imperative that considerations of sex and gender, and their intersections with other variables, are integrated into study designs, data collection and analysis, and reporting, as recommended by the SAGER guidelines5. Such diligence can ensure that medical interventions are safe and effective across all segments of the population, improving diagnostic accuracy, treatment efficacy, and effectiveness of policy interventions.
GENDRO remains steadfast in its dedication to promoting gender equity and diversity in scientific research. We will continue to advocate for policies and practices that uphold the principles of gender equality, diversity, and inclusivity, recognising that such an approach is fundamental to scientific rigour and integrity, and to advancing health equity, leaving no one behind.
GENDRO is a non-for-profit, non-governmental, independent association registered as a charity in Geneva, Switzerland with the mission to advance equity through the integration of sex and gender dimensions in research across disciplines. Our vision is to work collaboratively with partners, identify gaps, strengthen capacity, generate evidence, and advocate for academic research and any forms of knowledge production to create more equitable solutions to the societal challenges of our time. To learn more about GENDRO please visit our website.
Contact
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Trenell J. Mosley, Rachel A. Zajdel, Ethel Alderet, Janine A. Clayton, Shirin Heidari, Eliseo J. Pérez-Stable, Karen Salt, Marie A. Bernard
The Lancet – January, 2025
Enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the scientific and healthcare workforces∗ promotes research innovation and equitable access to quality healthcare. Efforts to advance DEI within the global scientific and healthcare workforces have assumed a new urgency given the strain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the aging of the global population, and the persistent shortages in the healthcare workforce, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Yet, these fields continue to struggle to promote DEI. Considering the impact of intersectionality—how multiple identities interact to create unique experiences of privilege and power—within these workforces will enhance efforts to promote DEI. This series explores the impact of intersectionality on scientific and healthcare workforce DEI and how prominent institutional and structural factors (e.g., sexism and racism), as well as their interpersonal manifestations, can create barriers for workers with multiple intersecting marginalised identities. This paper, the first in a three-part series, describes how intersecting identities interact with workplace inequities and suggests ways to incorporate intersectionality into DEI efforts within the scientific and healthcare workforces.
