Calgary, AB – February 19, 2025 – Women, girls and female-identifying persons experience different health realities due, in large part, to a significant lack of sex and gender focused research and funding investment that allows for the exploration of female specific health concerns.
Only 8.8% of NIH grant spending over the last 10 years has focused on women’s health including conditions that impact women uniquely, differently, and disproportionately meaning that researchers with an appetite for understanding and addressing sex based differences are uniquely challenged to find funding to meaningfully support their work. Reality is: women’s health remains underfunded. Therefore breakthroughs to improve the health of women have lagged and, according to McKinsey, created a $1T sex and gender data gap.
Moving the needle on women’s health equity requires first moving the needle in research accessibility. This is why My Normative has committed to supporting early stage research.
Today, My Normative, announces the launch of the Next Generation Women’s Health Research Award. Through this award, My Normative commits to funding up to five projects per year for the next five years, in which researchers receive funding for a “Starter” technology implementation for prospective research across expertise and domain areas that impact women differently and disproportionately.
The Starter product offers a cost-effective and participant-friendly way for researchers to get their feet wet collecting and analyzing sex and gender data. The product is structured to facilitate sex and gender specific insights and not require researchers to be experts in women’s health. Researchers will collaborate with My Normative to implement their specific study protocol and deploy seamlessly with the companion app to their study participants.
“In order for scientific research in the health and life sciences to move forward in a way that is equitable across sex and gender, we must make it easier for innovators and researchers to include and accurately represent sex and gender in scientific research at scale. In particular it is urgent that we remove barriers to this new generation of passionate innovators who want to account for sex and gender in the research process but might need a little extra support to get started” says CEO and Co-Founder, Danika Kelly.
Award applications are now open. To apply, please visit mynormative.com/awards to get started or reach out to Allison Swelin, Director of Growth at [email protected].
About My Normative:
Co-Founded in Calgary by Danika Kelly and Renee Kokts-Porietis in 2020. My Normative is a health research and innovation platform to more easily account for sex and gender-based differences, de-risk the clinical trial process, and reduce logistical and financial burdens traditionally associated with including female persons in clinical trials.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Allison Swelin,
Director of Growth, My Normative
403-619-9469
[email protected]