The need for research on women has gained national attention in the last decade, but more women are needed to participate in clinical trials. The Society for Women’s Health Research launched a national campaign in March to ensure that women get that message.

Called "Some Things Only a Woman Can Do," the campaign is designed to educate the public, especially women, about gender differences in health risks and the need for research on women.

Nearly 90 organizations, including the Association of Women Psychiatrists, have joined the campaign’s Alliance for Women in Clinical Trials to disseminate information to their members and to the public about the campaign.

"The past exclusion of women from clinical trials has limited our knowledge of how diseases and conditions and their treatment affect women differently from men," states a free glossy campaign folder with facts about women’s diseases and common questions and answers about clinical trials. Another fact sheet lists Web sites and telephone numbers of medical institutions conducting clinical trials.

"By volunteering for medical research, women contribute to researchers’ efforts to expand our knowledge of how best to treat and prevent disease," states the folder.

In addition to the campaign, the Society for Women’s Health Research works to increase public and private funding for women’s health research and to encourage the study of basic biological and physiological differences between men and women and how they affect health and disease.

APA is a member of the Society’s Medical Health Advisory Board, which guides and assists in developing a comprehensive agenda on women’s health research.