SAN FRANCISCO—First lady Jill Biden's time in the White House will come to a close less than a week from now, but she said Tuesday that's not going to bring her work around women's health to a halt.
Biden, Ed.D., spoke with Fierce Healthcare Executive Editor Heather Landi at Fierce JPM Week on the administration's efforts to drive more research into key women's health challenges across their lifetime, from child-bearing years to menopause and beyond. She said that after her time as second lady in the Obama administration ended, she didn't stop pushing on key passion projects.
"I said a long time ago, when I was second lady, that I would never waste my platform," Biden said. "And then I continued that, I think, in the in-between years between second lady and first lady."
"And when I became first lady, I continued working on the same issues that I had been working on for years and years," she said.
The Biden administration launched the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research in November 2023. Since then, multiple agencies have made significant investments in advancing women's health equity.
That includes a $200 million commitment toward "interdisciplinary research" on women's health at the National Institutes of Health, she said, as well as $500 million from the Department of Defense to conduct further study. The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health has also contributed $113 million toward investments in innovative ideas.
In "a little more than a year, the U.S. government invested nearly $1 billion in women's health research, and we've changed the federal research process today," Biden said.
That includes pushing for more studies to include women, as certain conditions and therapies may effect men and women differently. It also means more study into the array of medical issues women face.
For instance, she polled the men in the audience on what endometriosis is, and the symptoms it can cause. Endometriosis is a fairly common condition with estimates suggesting it affects between 5% and 10% of women and adolescents who are of reproductive age.
It can cause significant pain and fertility issues and puts patients at risk of other medical conditions. However, despite being fairly common, it can be a prolonged process for a patient to get a diagnosis of endometriosis, Biden said.
To that end, the Women's Health Initiative invested in research into a blood test that can deliver a diagnosis within days, allowing for a treatment plan to be put in place far more quickly to alleviate symptoms, she said.
But this work can't and shouldn't stop with the federal government, Biden said. The next step, she said, is really getting the private sector involved in driving change for women's health.
"Women are waiting for better answers to improve their health, and the potential in this space is too great to ignore," Biden said. "And I'm so proud that the White House Initiative on Women's Health Research has laid down a new marker of progress, but that new standard isn't the finish line for me, it's my starting point."
To hear the full presentation with Jill Biden, register for Fierce JPM Week's virtual conference, held from Jan. 22 to Jan. 24. Admission to the virtual event is free; register here.