Vic boosts women's health research

The Victorian Government is devoting $1.5 million in grants to address an entrenched lack of research into women’s health.

The Women’s Health Research Catalyst Grants allow successful applicants to receive between $50,000 and $150,000 in funding for one-year research initiatives specifically focused on sex and gender comparisons and underfunded or under-researched conditions impacting women.

“For too long, medical misogyny has labelled women too unreliable to study due to fluctuating hormones, but this shouldn’t mean we are excluded; we should be made a focus because of these biological differences,” said Minister for Health Mary-Anne Thomas.

“Many medical conditions unique to women, or those that affect us differently or disproportionately, haven’t received the funding or focus they should — these grants will help Victorian women get the care they deserve.”

Eligible applicants will need to be from a Victorian Administering Institution and undertaking research in a health and medical field. This can include discovery, preclinical, clinical or lived experience.

While all areas of health and medical research will be considered, some target areas have been identified by the government as requiring greater understanding of the influence sex and gender have on these conditions — acknowledging that for women they can be experienced very differently compared to men.

These areas include sexual and reproductive health, cardiovascular health, oncology, orthopaedics and chronic pain, among others.

The grants program is part of the government’s $153 million investment to improve women’s health outcomes, and builds on current work to develop a business case for a Women’s Health Research Initiative.

Through this funding, the government also aims to deliver 20 new women’s health clinics, expand the state’s sexual and reproductive health hubs network, double the number of laparoscopies for endometriosis and associated conditions, and provide scholarships for more than 100 women’s specialists.

For more information, visit health.vic.gov.au/catalyst-grants-womens-health-research-priorities.

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