TY - JOUR
T1 - Mapping of European activities on the integration of sex and gender factors in neurology and neuroscience
AU - Hentzen, Nina B.
AU - Ferretti, Maria Teresa
AU - Santuccione Chadha, Antonella
AU - Jaarsma, Joke
AU - de Visser, Marianne
AU - Moro, Elena
AU - the Gender and Diversity Task force of the EAN
AU - Aamodt, Anne Hege
AU - Arabia, Gennarina
AU - Aybeck, Selma
AU - Carvalho, Vanessa
AU - Goudier, Riadh
AU - Grisold, Wolfgang
AU - Lebedeva, Elena R.
AU - Matczack, Magda
AU - Magyari, Melinda
AU - Molnar, Maria Judit
AU - Rakusa, Martin
AU - Pajediene, Evelina
AU - Tracy, Irene
AU - Vonck, Kristl
N1 - Funding Information: A significant part of the published research on sex and gender dimensions in neuroscience within Europe was funded by the European Commission (11%), followed by the US Department of Health and Human Services (8%), the National Institutes of Health (8%), UK Research and Innovation (4%), the UK Medical Research Council (4%), and the German Research Foundation (3%). Other European agencies among the top 20 funding agencies in terms of publications include the Wellcome Trust (2%), the Swedish Research Council (2%), the (1%), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research Germany (1%), the Spanish Government (1%), the Swiss National Science Foundation (1%), and the French National Research Agency (1%; Figure 2 ). Institudo De Salud Carlos III Funding Information: A similar survey of projects supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation in the areas of Neurophysiology and Brain Research, Neurology and Psychiatry, and Mental Disorders and Psychosomatic Diseases revealed a total of 2860 projects, of which only five are explicitly dedicated to sex and gender analysis. Funding Information: To investigate the number of projects explicitly concerned with the sex and gender dimension in neuroscience and neurology, we further conducted a survey of projects funded by the ERC as a pan‐European funding agency and by the Swiss National Science Foundation as a national funding agency. A search of the ERC datahub for ERC‐funded projects in Neurosciences and Neural Disorders (panel LS5) revealed a total of 486 funded projects with a total budget of 924 million Euro, out of which only three projects (total budget 4.5 million Euro) are fully dedicated to investigating sex and gender dimensions in neuroscience. All three projects are funded by ERC Starting Grants allocated in 2020 (one project) and 2021 (two projects); two of the projects are being carried out in Israel and one in the UK. Funding Information: Maria Teresa Ferretti is the co‐founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the non‐profit organization the WBP. In the past 2 years she has received personal fees from Eli Lilly, Lundbeck and Roche, for projects not directly related to the present paper. Elena Moro has not received financial support related to this work. She has received honoraria from Medtronic, Abbott and Kyowa for consulting services. She has received research grant support from Ipsen. Dr A. Santuccione Chadha is an employee of Altoida Inc.. She is also co‐founder and pro bono CEO of the WBP. This position paper represents her personal view only and not the position of any group or entity with which she is associated. The other authors have nothing to disclose. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 European Academy of Neurology.
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Background and purpose: Neurological disorders pose a profound unmet medical need for which new solutions are urgently needed. The consideration of both biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences between men and women is necessary to identify more efficacious, safer and tailored treatments. Approaches for putting sex and gender medicine into practice have gathered momentum across Europe, but it is currently unclear to what extent they have been implemented in the field of neurology and neuroscience. Methods: We mapped current activities in research, funding and education aimed at integrating sex and gender consideration in neuroscience and neurology in Europe. We examined and analyzed data gathered from literature searches, policy documents and reports by the European Commission and national funding agencies, web-based searches, Web of Science, and searches of project databases of funding agencies. An informative/non-systematic search was performed for sections on policies and funding, education, and basic research, while a systematic literature and database review was conducted for quantitative analysis of research output and funded projects in terms of sex and gender analysis. Results: Our mapping shows that there is a growing interest in and attention given to sex and gender considerations in neurological fields, both from funding agencies and researchers. However, most activities, especially for education, are limited to the individual motivation of researchers and are not organically built within curricula and strategic research priorities. Conclusion: We recommend actions that might help increase the consideration of sex and gender specifically in the field of neuroscience and neurology.
AB - Background and purpose: Neurological disorders pose a profound unmet medical need for which new solutions are urgently needed. The consideration of both biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences between men and women is necessary to identify more efficacious, safer and tailored treatments. Approaches for putting sex and gender medicine into practice have gathered momentum across Europe, but it is currently unclear to what extent they have been implemented in the field of neurology and neuroscience. Methods: We mapped current activities in research, funding and education aimed at integrating sex and gender consideration in neuroscience and neurology in Europe. We examined and analyzed data gathered from literature searches, policy documents and reports by the European Commission and national funding agencies, web-based searches, Web of Science, and searches of project databases of funding agencies. An informative/non-systematic search was performed for sections on policies and funding, education, and basic research, while a systematic literature and database review was conducted for quantitative analysis of research output and funded projects in terms of sex and gender analysis. Results: Our mapping shows that there is a growing interest in and attention given to sex and gender considerations in neurological fields, both from funding agencies and researchers. However, most activities, especially for education, are limited to the individual motivation of researchers and are not organically built within curricula and strategic research priorities. Conclusion: We recommend actions that might help increase the consideration of sex and gender specifically in the field of neuroscience and neurology.
KW - education
KW - gender
KW - gender medicine
KW - neurology
KW - policy
KW - sex
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85133793754&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1111/ene.15439
DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/ene.15439
M3 - Article
C2 - 35673956
SN - 1351-5101
VL - 29
SP - 2572
EP - 2579
JO - European journal of neurology
JF - European journal of neurology
IS - 9
ER -