NIH and its Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), in partnership with NIH’s Coordinating Committee on Research on Women’s Health (CCRWH), seek feedback in response to Request for Information (RFI): Inviting Comments To Inform the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the Intersection of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 Pandemic and the Health of Women.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, surveillance data have illustrated sex differences in infection and mortality rates, with higher infection rates in females (52.8%) but higher disease severity and mortality rates in males.
This RFI invites comments on research gaps, clinical practice needs, and research priorities at the intersection of women’s health concerns and SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 illness, and post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), also known as long COVID.
Information Requested
NIH seeks public comment on the following research topics:
- Specific conditions, disorders, or health-related events which are more prevalent in women that are affected or altered by SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 illness, or PASC or confer risk to acute/severe complications to infection or adverse events related to therapies. In addition, consider if these conditions differ across age groups, races/ethnicities, or associations with pre-existing conditions.
- Scientific gaps or areas with opportunity to discover mechanisms of acute or chronic PASC (long COVID) response to infection throughout women’s life course (including pregnancy and postpartum) and in women of different races, ethnicities, origins, and heritage groups.
- Strategic approaches to enhance inclusion of women of diverse backgrounds in research studies and clinical trials for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 vaccines, drugs, and other therapies.
- Resources (e.g., biorepositories, data repositories, registries, patient-reported outcomes) that can be leveraged to advance mechanistic studies of SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 and/or PASC in women, including studies of symptoms and/or signs that specifically manifest in women of different ages and from different racial, ethnic, origin, and heritage groups.
You can also share feedback on any related aspects of research gaps, needs, and opportunities at the intersection of women’s health and the COVID-19 pandemic.
How To Submit a Response
Email responses and questions to Dr. Rajeev K. Argawal, Dr. Marrah Lachowicz-Scroggins, and Dr. Nina Schor, at CCRWHRFI@od.nih.gov by May 6, 2022. Responses to this RFI are voluntary. Do not include any proprietary, classified, or confidential information in your responses.