Paula van de Nes, Group Director of Medical Strategy at Neon, discusses how bias towards males in the laboratory ultimately impacts healthcare for females.
“Female-focused landmark studies, such as the Nurses’ Health Study, find females are often diagnosed, treated, and prescribed drugs based on evidence from studies that excluded them,” she said.
Paula said "bikini medicine” is failing women, noting that “the mistaken idea that female health diverges from male health only inside the anatomical confines of a bikini, has set back innovations in female healthcare.”
“We can’t and shouldn’t continue to make crucial decisions for people based on information that excludes them,” she said. “Lasting change can only happen if we close the gender gap in health research funding. But funding is only the beginning. We can begin to reverse the tide of healthcare disparities by advocating for ourselves and our loved ones.”
