A Timeline to Making Women’s Health Mainstream

Jan 1989

Dr. Florence Haseltine Organizes Meeting on Women’s Health at ACOG

Florence Haseltine, PhD, MD, organized a meeting at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) to discuss the state of research on women’s health. This meeting set the stage for the Society for Women’s Health Research (originally called the Society for the Advancement of Women’s Health Research).

Oct 1986

NIH Encourages Inclusion of Women in Clinical Research

In response to the U.S. Public Health Task Force’s report on women’s health, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Guide for Grants and Contracts (vol. 15, no. 22) included a notice that encouraged — but did not require — researchers to include women in their clinical studies.

Jan 1985

Federal Task Force Reports Excluding Women From Research Harms Their Health

A report from the U.S. Public Health Service Task Force concluded that the exclusion of women from clinical research was detrimental to their health and recommended expanding research to include diseases or conditions that solely or disproportionately affect women of all ages.

Sep 1977

FDA Guidance Excludes ‘Women of Childbearing Potential’ From Research

In the 1960s and 1970s, birth defects caused by the drugs Thalidomide and DES led to increased concern about the safety of drugs and drug trials during pregnancy. At-home pregnancy tests did not exist at this time so the public’s concern expanded to include all women capable of becoming pregnant. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1977 published guidelines advising the exclusion of “any premenopausal woman capable of becoming pregnant” from participating in Phase I and II clinical research.

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