Science for Men AND Women

This episode dives into the persistent gender data gap in medical research, highlighting how decades of bias have led to significant blind spots in diagnosing and treating women. We hear from leading experts, including Dr. Gillian Einstein and Dr. Jeffrey Mogil, about how medical research has historically defaulted to male subjects—resulting in treatments that often overlook or misrepresent women’s health outcomes. Through examples ranging from Alzheimer’s research to pain studies and drug trials, the episode explores why the gap exists, the consequences it causes, and what’s needed to fix it.

Key Takeaways:

• Exclusion Creates Risk: Historically, medical trials and drug testing were predominantly conducted on men, even for conditions that primarily affect women. This lack of representation has led to ineffective or harmful treatments for half the population.
• Inclusion Alone Isn’t Enough: Including women in studies without analyzing sex based differences renders that inclusion meaningless.  Many studies report male and female participation but fail to examine how outcomes vary between sexes.  
• Closing the Gap Benefits Everyone: Gender aware research isn’t just about fairness.  It leads to better science.  Both men and women suffer when sex differences are ignored.  Researchers must treat sex as a critical discovery variable, not an afterthought.  

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• Dr. Gillian Einstein – University of Toronto Dr. Gillian Einstein U of T
• Dr. Jeffrey Mogil – McGill University  Dr. Jeffrey Mogil - Mogilab
• John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight (2020 episode on medical bias) You can see this episode here:  John Oliver Last Week Tonight Medical Bias 2020
• IWK Foundation – Jennifer Gillivan, President and CEO of the IWK Foundation in Halifax, NS  https://iwkfoundation.org/

Special thanks to Farideh for the use of her song “Female Body”  You can find the song on Apple, Spotify, YouTube and more.  Her website is www.ilovefarideh.com

The Fifth Wave is produced by Story Studio Network.