10 Recommended Resources on Gender and Medicine

Are you interested in how diseases affect differently women and men? Do you want to share any research or initiative about gender and health? Are you looking for tools to implement the gender perspective in health and medical science? In the following post we introduce an initial list of key resources touching on these and other topics regarding gender and medicine. The 10 presented resources are far from being exhaustive – they should rather be understood as an invitation to join GenPORT and contribute to the growing evidence base on the importance of gender and sex for medical sciences.  

1. PROJECT: European Gender Medicine (EUGenMed)

EUGenMed produced an innovative roadmap for the implementation of sex and gender perspectives in biomedicine and health. The GenPORT entry on this project provides a convenient way to access the main outcomes of this FP7 project including the series of Policy Briefs about sex and gender in asthma, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, lung cancer or stroke.

The project is run by Charité, Universitaetsmedizin Berlin; University Maastricht, and the European Institute of Women’s Health.

2. COURSE: eGendermedizin / eGender Medicine

This free on-line course, organised by the Institute of Gender in Medicine (GIM) - Charité University Medicine Berlin, is an advanced training programme that offers a systematic analysis of gender differences in basic and clinical research.

Through this course will enable students to integrate a sex and gender perspective into clinical medicine.

3. PHD THESIS: Understanding sex/gender cardiovascular disease

Catherine Kreatsoulas’s PhD thesis from Mc Master University analyses how gender affects cariodiovascular disease.

Her research assesses how doctors detect cardiac catheterization by sex and also identifies the different specific predictors of severe angiographic disease among women.

The thesis develops an assessment tool to test the symptom parameters taking into account the sex differences but also the shared experiences of women and men along (the gender continuum).

4. KNOWLEDGE BANK: Sex, gender and medical drugs

The database offers an analysis of each medical substance from a sex and gender perspective. It aims to improve drug treatment by providing information on how each substance affects differently men and women.

The Health and Medical Care Administration at the Stockholm County Council signs responsible for this service while the analysis is done, in a collaborative manner, by the Drug Therapeutic Committee in Stockholm County Council, Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska University Hospital and Center for Gender Medicine, Karolinska Institutet. 

The database is searchable by substance name and periodically updated.

5. UNDP POLICY NOTE: Confronting the Gender Impact of Ebola Virus Disease in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone

The report describes how the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is affecting more women than men in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leona due to gender roles.

It also highlights the negative effects of EVD on women regarding their increased vulnerability due to loss of livelihoods and income, the higher exposure to gender-based violence and exploitation, or and the problems for safe childbirth.

It defines 8 points that the strategies related to EVD have to include.

6. EU REPORT: The State of Men’s Health in Europe

The report, published by the Directorate General for Health and Consumers of the European Commission, offers an overview of the health status of men in Europe.

It presents the prevalence of different types of diseases in men such as lung cancer, cardio-vascular diseases, mental health, dental and oral health and accidents. It also points out the preventable risk factors related to lifestyle and make recommendations for research and policies.  

7. SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE: Guidelines for the Prevention of Stroke in Women

The article identifies female-specific risk factors for stroke and defines guidelines for its prevention.

Its guidelines are endorsed by healthcare professionals from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and the American Academy of Neurology.

8. INTERVIEW IN A HEALTH TV PROGRAM: How illness can strike women differently from men - Vera Regitz-Zagrosek

In this interview, Professor Dr Vera Regitz-Zagrosek, head of the Institute of Gender in Medicine at the Charité in Berlin, explains  gender differences in the diagnosis and treatment of  diseases. She highlights that cardio-vascular, neurologic, inflammatory and psychiatric diseases are the most critical for gender differences. Examples of gender sensitive indicators for the detection of these diseases are listed. In addition, Prof. Regitz-Zagrosek explains the advantages for pharmaceutics to incorporate a sex and gender analysis in combination with being sensitive to ethnic differences.

This interview forms part of the “In good shape” series, a health programme of the DW-TV.    

9. SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE: The Gender Gap in Academic Medicine

The article assesses the effects of a multifaceted gender equality intervention at Standord University School of Medicine. The intervention aimed to combat gender disparities and expand diversity in faculty recruitment.

The result shows that both the proportion of women and the faculty satisfaction increased after the program. The results suggest that gender equality interventions may ameliorate the gender gap in academic medicine.

10. AWARD: The FEBS/EMBO Women in Science Award

The annual FEBS/EMBO Award is a recognition of the major contributions by female scientists to life science research. It consists of a bursary of €10,000 and a sculpture designed by Marloes Earden.

It is a joint initiative of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and EMBO that promotes excellence in the life sciences.

The Award promotes women in science by highlighting the achievement of winners, inspiring role models for the future generations.

If you are interested in discovering other awards related to gender and science, please see our “Awards, contests, prizes” category.

Many more resources on gender and medicine are available through GenPORT. Please feel free to join by registering and contribute with comments, resources, events or organizations.