Excerpt

Biologically based differences between the sexes impact human development and behavior in both obvious and subtle ways. Sex differences are also apparent across the spectrum of health and disease, impacting not only individual health, but also public health, biomedical research, and healthcare delivery. Researchers have begun to elucidate these differences and their potential impact in areas such as pain and pain perception, infection, longevity, disease incidence and course, and cellular response and inflammation. Studies have shown, for example, that males and females can have markedly different responses to certain medications; in some cases these unexpected differences have led to the recall of products from the market (GAO, 2001). In the current era of translational research and personalized medicine, it is increasingly important to take sex differences into account, so that the potential effects of products and therapies can be more fully understood.

Contents

• The National Academies
• Workshop on Sex Differences and Implications for Translational Neuroscience Research Planning Committee
• Institute of Medicine Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders
• Reviewers
• 1. Introduction
  • SCOPE OF THE WORKSHOP
  • ORGANIZATION OF THE REPORT
• 2. Studying Sex Differences in Health and Disease
  • SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES FOR STUDYING SEX DIFFERENCES IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
  • STUDYING SEX DIFFERENCES IN DRUG RESPONSE
  • STUDYING SEX DIFFERENCES IN DISEASE SUSCEPTIBILITY
  • OFFICE OF RESEARCH ON WOMEN’S HEALTH AT NIH
  • MOVING INTO THE FUTURE: NEW DIMENSIONS AND STRATEGIES FOR WOMEN’S HEALTH RESEARCH: NEUROSCIENCE WORKING GROUP
  • PUBLIC HEALTH IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING SEX DIFFERENCES
• 3. Studying Sex Differences in Translational Research: Examples from Four Major Disease Areas
  • DEPRESSION
  • PAIN AND PAIN PERCEPTION
  • SLEEP MEDICINE
  • MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND NEUROINFLAMMATION
  • MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND NEUROINFLAMMATION: CONSIDERING SEX DIFFERENCES IN DESIGNING THERAPEUTIC AGENTS
  • OVERARCHING DISCUSSION
• 4. Reporting Sex Differences in Research Publications
  • JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY
  • EXPERIMENTAL NEUROLOGY
• 5. Sex Differences in Drug Development: Policy and Practice
  • SEX DIFFERENCES IN TRANSLATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE: A VIEW FROM INDUSTRY
  • WOMEN IN CLINICAL TRIALS: FDA POLICIES
  • A STRATEGY FOR TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY IN MOOD DISORDERS
  • PRACTICAL ISSUES OF ADDRESSING SEX DIFFERENCES DURING TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH AND CLINICAL DRUG DEVELOPMENT
  • OPEN DISCUSSION
• 6. Needs, Opportunities, and Next Steps
  • BARRIERS
  • ADDITIONAL PRIORITY AREAS FOR SEX DIFFERENCES RESEARCH
  • NEXT STEPS
• Appendixes
  • A References
  • B Registered Attendees
  • C Workshop Agenda

Rapporteurs: Diana Pankevich, Theresa Wizemann, and Bruce M. Altevogt

This project was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and the Alzheimer’s Association; AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; CeNeRx Biopharma; the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of Health (NIH, Contract Nos. N01-OD-4-213) through the National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Eye Institute, NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, National Institute of Mental Health, and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; Eli Lilly and Company; GE Healthcare, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline, Inc.; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development, LLC; Merck Research Laboratories; the National Multiple Sclerosis Society; the National Science Foundation (Contract No. OIA-0753701); the Society for Neuroscience; and Wyeth Research, Inc.

Suggested citation:

IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2011. Sex differences and implications for translational neuroscience research: Workshop summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

The views presented in this publication are those of the editors and attributing authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.