The grants have been awarded through the Society's Isis Fund for Interdisciplinary Research in Sex-Based Biology and will support two collaborative research projects in the Isis Network on Sex, Gender, Drugs and the Brain, which includes academic and scientific research professionals from universities around the country.
"This funding promotes research that will ultimately help us to better understand drug addiction in women and men, as well as treatment and diagnosis of postpartum depression," said Sherry A. Marts, Ph.D., scientific director of the Society for Women's Health Research.
In the area of drug addiction, a study that examines the biological differences in drug addiction between women and men was awarded $70,000. The study will look at the role of sex-chromosome gene expression in behavior and response to repeated exposure to psychomotor stimulant drugs.
"One of the primary aims of this study is to look at the XY and XX chromosomes in the sexes and determine if this genetic difference is responsible for the different drug-induced behavioral responses observed in female and male mice," she said.
The second study was awarded $80,000 to examine the effect of estrogen on escitalopram treatment of women with PPD. Estrogen supplements may expedite the clinical recovery of women receiving escitalopram.
"Between 10 and 15 percent of women suffer from PPD, and although these women respond well to pharmacological treatments, the latency of treatment response could have a deleterious effect on their infants' development. Escitalopram is a fast acting antidepressant, which can be used at lower doses than other Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, but has not yet been used to treat women with PPD," Marts said.
The research funding was made possible by a grant to the Society from Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals. Both studies will be conducted by researchers in the Isis Network.
"These multidisciplinary teams responsible for the research are made up of professionals chosen by the Society based on their innovative and novel approach to addressing research in the biology of sex differences. It is our hope that their cutting-edge research efforts will serve to improve the future health of women and men throughout the world," said Phyllis Greenberger, M.S.W., president and CEO of the Society for Women's Health Research.
The Society for Women's Health Research is the nation's only not-for-profit organization whose sole mission is to improve the health of women through research. Founded in 1990, the Society brought to national attention the need for the appropriate inclusion of women in major medical research studies and the resulting need for more information about conditions affecting women. The Society advocates increased funding for research on women's health, encourages the study of sex differences that may affect the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, and promotes the inclusion of women in medical research studies. Visit the Society's Web site at www.womens-health.org for more information.