President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday creating a Women’s Health Division within the National Institutes of Health and a White House Women’s Health Task Force, an initiative led by first lady Melania Trump. The task force is co-chaired by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. And White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and was scheduled to hold its first meeting the same day.
Its stated focus includes conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women, stronger inclusion of women and girls in clinical trials, research using sex as a biological variable, advanced technologies, personalized medicine and moving scientific findings into clinical care.
The broader task force is charged with coordinating federal policy across the lifespan, from infancy and adolescence through pregnancy, reproductive years, midlife, menopause and aging. The order lists research priorities including cardiovascular disease, cancer, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, endometriosis, fibroids, infertility, maternal health, osteoporosis and mental health.
At a Rose Garden signing ceremony, Melania Trump said the initiative would pursue five goals: directing research toward conditions affecting women, using artificial intelligence to speed discovery, accelerating therapeutics, making breakthroughs more affordable and reducing taboos around women’s health discussions. Trump said the order would promote research into understudied diseases, diagnostic technology and treatment, but it sets no specific funding target.
The administration says the new structure is intended to extend beyond research coordination by emphasizing prevention, diagnosis, treatment and long-term care. It also says the task force may consult state, tribal, local, academic, private-sector and community organizations, subject to existing law and available appropriations.