Study investigates attitudes toward implementation of 'sex as a biological variable' policy

In 2016, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) implemented a policy which requires grant applicants to "consider sex as a biological variable (SABV)" in vertebrate animal and human studies. A new study surveyed NIH study section members in 2016 and 2017 regarding their attitudes toward the policy and found that a majority of respondents thought that it was important to consider SABV in the experimental design and that considering SABV would improve the rigor and reproducibility of NIH-funded preclinical research. The assessment of attitudes toward the policy and perceptions regarding its implementation are described in an article published in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

The article, "Implementation of the NIH Sex-Inclusion Policy: Attitudes and Opinions of Study Section Members," is coauthored by Nicole C. Woitowich, PhD and Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois. Study section members indicated that, from 2016 to 2017, there was a significant increase in the proportion of grants that considered SABV in the research strategy and applicants who adequately addressed the incorporation of SABV into the experimental design, analysis, and reporting. In addition, a significant increase was noted in the proportion of grant proposals that provided consistent justification to study a single sex.

In an upcoming editorial, entitled "Studying Sex as a Biological Variable: Is a New Day Dawning?" Irving Zucker, PhD, University of California, Berkeley and Annaliese Beery, PhD, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, state that the study findings provide the "first indication that change may be forthcoming" with respect to the inclusion of females in research studies. According to Dr. Zucker and Dr. Beery, the increase seen in the proportion of proposals that considered SABV in the research strategy and addressed it in the experimental design "will require monitoring in subsequent years to determine if the trend is sustained, and how it will translate into publication of research findings."