Oct 25, 2018, 1:06 AM ETPanel

Women's Health: Addressing Disparities from Health Leadership to Patient Care

The panel includes Frida Lewis-Hall (Pfizer CMO), Sarah Lynn Mark (iGiant), Paula Schneider (Susan G. Komen CEO), Janine Austin Clayton (NIH Office of Research on Women's Health Director), and Isabella Donnell (PAHO Deputy Director).
Participants noted a historical and ongoing disparity in biomedical research where the majority of lab mice and rats used in studies are male.
Women account for 57% of all doctor's office expenses in the U.S. but remain underrepresented as decision-makers within the healthcare system.
One out of three women globally has experienced physical or sexual violence, a statistic cited as a critical social determinant affecting health outcomes.
The moderator highlighted that despite laws passed 20–30 years ago, women's under-representation in clinical trials remains a persistent problem.

Janine Austin Clayton defined women's health as "the health of women," encompassing everything from head to toe and including all biological and social factors affecting a woman's life.
Isabella Donnell emphasized the WHO definition of health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease, noting that power dynamics and the feminization of poverty are key barriers.
The panel advocated moving beyond the "bikini medicine" model (focusing only on reproductive tissue) to a holistic approach addressing social determinants and inequities across the lifespan.
Paula Schneider called for an integrated approach that includes men in the conversation to avoid alienating male colleagues and to address the root causes of health disparities.
Frida Lewis-Hall noted the definition has shifted from a "below the belt" focus to whole-body health and, increasingly, to the social and environmental contexts surrounding patients.

Sarah Lynn Mark transitioned to women's health after learning that two-thirds of the world's visually impaired people are women, a disparity she could not explain using existing medical models.
Isabella Donnell credited the women's movement of the 1960s and 70s, along with family support, as critical factors in her rise to leadership in global health.
Paula Schneider, a breast cancer survivor with a background in retail and private equity, created the first women's health fellowship in the U.S. to address care disparities.
Janine Austin Clayton stated her leadership philosophy is based on the idea that women "lean in" too often but require formal sponsorship and institutionalized support from male colleagues to achieve equity.
Frida Lewis-Hall redefined leadership for herself not as leading from the front, but as leading "from below" as a foundation and "from behind" as a support system for others.

Over half of participants in NIH-funded clinical research are now women, but fewer than one-third of Phase III clinical trial publications report disaggregated results by sex.
The 21st Century Cures Act (2016) requires clinical trials to report results on clinicaltrials.gov, which is expected to accelerate the reporting of sex, gender, and race-specific outcomes.
Pfizer is conducting research across the entire spectrum of patients (including children and the elderly) to match study populations with the actual demographics of medicine users, rather than aiming for a 50/50 split.
Sarah Lynn Mark noted that while women are included in space research, small physiological differences become magnified in the space environment, offering a platform to study accelerated aging and sex differences.
Paula Schneider highlighted that breast cancer affects men as well, and organizations must ensure messaging does not alienate men who may delay care due to stigma.

Health inequities in the Americas are driven more by social determinants (racism, poverty, housing, education) than by access to care alone.
Maternal mortality in the U.S. is rising and is the highest among peer countries, exceeding rates in Libya, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Violence against women is identified as an intergenerational cycle where children exposed to violence are more likely to become perpetrators or victims as adults.
Isabella Donnell noted that gender equality and women's empowerment are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that hold governments accountable through interrelated metrics on health, education, and economic status.
Paula Schneider warned that women often live longer but "take longer to die," facing poor health outcomes in their final years due to a medical system that treats everyone as a "lump" rather than an individual.

Regina Barzile, a breast cancer survivor and MIT scholar, is using machine learning to detect breast cancer in mammograms years before it is visible to the naked eye.
Sarah Lynn Mark reported that women face higher rates of carpal tunnel syndrome and severe injury in car accidents (47% higher) because many devices and safety systems are designed for male physiology.
Drones are being used in Rwanda to deliver blood products on demand to save women during hemorrhaging, solving issues of refrigeration and remote logistics.
Telemedicine is being utilized in Bolivia to connect rural patients with urban experts, improving access to care in remote areas.
In India, a program trains young women from remote villages to perform initial ophthalmology screenings using technology, empowering them as community leaders while addressing doctor shortages.
The iGiant organization is accelerating "gendered innovation" to ensure products, policies, and protocols are designed with sex and gender differences in mind across healthcare, transportation, and retail.

Female empowerment movements like Me Too are being leveraged by organizations like Komen to engage 800,000 women in health-related data collection and awareness activities.
Venture capital and angel investing remain male-dominated, with only 5% of VCs and 25% of angels being women; the panel urged formal sponsorship programs to drive change.
Sarah Lynn Mark's "Roundtable Scholars Program" is establishing sex-and-gender-focused discussion groups on college campuses to engage young women in research and advocacy.
Paula Schneider emphasized that true leadership equity requires men to act as champions and sponsors for women within their organizations.
The panel identified maternal and paternity leave as a critical structural barrier to women's leadership, calling for gender-equal paid leave policies.
Frida Lewis-Hall noted that the NIH has officially expanded its definition of women's health to include the biological, social, and life-course contexts of women.