<img6996|center> In a one day, launch conference, the European Gender Medicine Project (EUGenMed) partners met with ninety experts and key stakeholders to
assess the role of gender medicine (GM) in Europe. The launch conference marked the first of a series of project meetings under the DG Research and Innovation-funded Framework Seven Programme (FP7) project to be held in 2014 and 2015 that will culminate in the
development of a roadmap for the further implementation of sex and gender (S&G) in biomedical sciences and health research in Europe. EPHA Secretariat was invited to the meeting and delivered a short presentation on the effective communication of sex and gender issues.
Patricia Reilly, Member of Cabinet for Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn, DG Research & Innovation, delivered the keynote address at the launch conference, highlighting the importance of the project and its objectives, “Research addressing sex and gender in biomedical sciences and health research is a novel and highly promising field. The interaction of S&G related mechanisms leads to different manifestation of diseases, such as infarction, heart failure, diabetes and rheumatic disease in women and in men. Research in this area will lead to better targeted and therefore more efficient treatment strategies than the previous ‘one-size fits all’ approach, thereby creating opportunities for prevention and increasing healthy life expectancy.”
The launch meeting was an opportunity to set out the four follow-up workshops on specific areas of sex and gender in biomedical sciences and health research. Conference participants defined the most relevant topics for each workshop and determined the experts and stakeholders to be invited. The first workshop will be held at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin in the autumn of 2014. “At this workshop, a multidisciplinary, multisectoral group of key stakeholders will discuss the most important topics in sex and gender differences in clinical medicine and pharmacology. We will examine existing, national and European-level research programmes. We will also work together to set priorities for research by identifying unmet needs and specifying desired outcomes. Issues like the role of gender in pharmacology and in personalised medicine will be discussed,” stated Vera Regitz-Zagrosek, Project Coordinator and director of Institute for Gender in Medicine at Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin.
The other three workshops will be held later in 2014 and 2015. Workshop 2 – organised by Maastricht University—will cover sex and gender aspects of public health and prevention and Workshop 3 – organised by Charité University – will cover sex and gender aspects in basic biomedical research. The final workshop will concentrate on sex and gender in medical regulation and education and will be hosted by the European Institute of Women’s Health (and EPHA member) in Brussels. The results of the workshops will be integrated into a roadmap in a final conference that will be held in Brussels later in 2015.
In addition, EUGenMed will create the European Gender Health Network, which will include relevant stakeholders and decision makers. The Network will identify target audiences and potential contributors for the communication of sex and gender issues. “ There are many key stakeholders, such as doctors, medical associations, teachers, students, researchers, industry, health policy makers, funding agencies and politicians. EUGenMed will work to identify bridges and possible collaborations among these stakeholders in order to instigate the
implementation of sex and gender in biomedical sciences, practices and health research in Europe,” explained Ineke Klinge, Associate Professor of Gender Medicine at Maastricht University.
Project partners and experts stressed the need to effectively disseminate project results in order to ensure the incorporation of sex and gender into future biomedical science and health research. Hildrun Sundseth, President of the European Institute of Women’s Health said: “Sex and gender strategies must be incorporated in the next generation of medical interventions and therapies. Project findings will be disseminated in a targeted and customised fashion to key stakeholders at local, national and European levels. The introduction of sex and gender into research and medical practice will lead to significant innovations and has the potential to improve European citizens’ health.”
For more information please visit www.eugenmed.eu
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– European Gender Medicine Project kicks off in Brussels – (EuGenMed) Press Release, 7 April 2014
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