Women's Health Initiative gets reprieve from HHS cuts
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The Trump administration said it's reversing course on a plan to end funding for a decades-long study of women's health after outcry from the research community.
Why it matters: The Women's Health Initiative was threatened by funding cuts to clinical studies aimed at reducing cancer rates or studying hormone therapy in menopause. Despite the reprieve, researchers remain fearful about its future.
The big picture: The study of more than 160,000 women was launched in the mid-1990s across 40 centers to better understand risk factors, prevention, and early detection of serious health conditions in postmenopausal women.
- More than 42,000 participants between 78 and 108 years old still remain involved.
- Recent studies examined seniors' physical activity, sleep quality, and the impact of exposures like radon, said Marcia Stefanick, a professor at Stanford University and principal investigator of the Western Regional Center of the WHI.
- "We're trying to find out 'Why are some of these women thriving so well? Why are they not doing so well?' So trying to understand, what are the underlying behaviors and practices that affect their health?" she said.
Driving the news: On April 21, HHS informed the Women's Health Initiative investigators that it would terminate its regional center contracts at the end of September. The cuts were part of 35% across-the-board cuts ordered by DOGE.
- Funding for the WHI Clinical Coordinating Center remains uncertain after January.
- But in a statement on Friday, an HHS official said "the work of the WHI will not be terminated as we work to fully restore funding to these essential research efforts."
Yes, but: Researchers still haven't received direct word, Stefanick said, adding early- and mid-career investigators have been building careers around the WHI infrastructure.
- There's a wealth of "irreplaceable" data not only from the women themselves, but from many of their adult children who have joined the study.
- "It's devastating for those of us who mentor young people and for those of us who have been doing this research. It's like: 'This is my research. I've been doing it for 32 years. How could it just disappear in five months?'"
Study participants have also been calling for updates.
- "We have offspring of our participants that say their mothers told them that this was the most important thing they ever did in their lives," Stefanick said.
