💉 What if vaccine science could become even more precise?
A new review co-authored by WHAM Research Collaborative member Dr. Sabra Klein shows that biological sex can shape immune responses — from vaccines to infections to recovery from disease.
🔍 Key takeaways:
• Biological sex can influence how the immune system functions
• Men and women may have different responses to the same infection
• Vaccine responses can vary by sex
• These differences may impact disease outcomes and recovery
• Accounting for sex differences could help improve vaccines, treatments, and prevention strategies
At WHAM, we’re working to accelerate research that reflects the full biology of the population it serves — and translate those discoveries into better health outcomes for everyone.
Link in bio to read more!
#WomensHealth #WHAMNow #WomensHealthResearch #Immunology
5 facts you need to know about women’s health:
📊 5x more research studies on erectile dysfunction than PMS
📊 Lung cancer kills more women than breast, uterine and ovarian cancer combined.
📊 Women are 90% of lupus patients.
📊 Women are nearly 2x more likely to experience eczema in the U.S.
📊 1.3M women enter menopause every year in the U.S.—most with little to no preparation or guidance
Individually, these are striking statistics.
Together, they point to something bigger: women’s health is one of the most important opportunities to advance better science, earlier answers, and more precise care.
By surfacing the data, closing research gaps, and accelerating innovation, WHAM is working toward a healthcare system that reflects the people it serves.
✨Support us by clicking the fundraiser above.
#WomensHealth #WomensHealthData #WomensHealthFacts #WHAMNow
Yep, you read those right. 🚨These aren’t just statistics—they impact millions of lives. This is your SIGN to help fund the research needed to close them.
#WomensHealth #WomensHealthFacts #WomensHealthGap #GenderHealthGap #WomensHealthResearch
We are excited to announce the creation of WHAM Ventures! 🚀
A transformative new platform designed to catalyze innovation, research, and commercialization across women’s health.
Building on the foundation of WHAM’s Research, Investment, and Life Sciences Collaboratives, WHAM Ventures will help accelerate breakthrough ideas, bridge critical funding gaps, and support innovations with the potential to improve the lives of women around the world.
The business case for investing in women’s health is clear. Now, we`re turning that opportunity into action.
This is just the beginning. Stay tuned. 💙
✨ For updates, sign up for the WHAM newsletter: link in bio
#WomensHealth #VentureCapital #VC #WomensHealthVC #WHAMNow #WHAMVentures
5 facts you need to know about women’s health:
🚨For every woman diagnosed with a women’s health condition, roughly four go undiagnosed.
🚨Women often produce higher antibody levels than men at the same vaccine dose.
🚨Less than 15% of women with maternal mental health disorders receive treatment.
🚨Women face ~2–3x higher risk of hip fractures than men.
🚨Only 30% of women over 40 report discussing what to expect in menopause with a healthcare provider.
Data drives discovery. Discovery drives better care.
When women are properly represented in research and data, we can improve diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for millions.
🔁 Repost to help raise awareness.
Make a difference by supporting the WHAM Edge Awards.
#WomensHealth #WomensHealthData #WomensHealthFacts #WHAMNow
Five dollars. That’s it. If 5,000 people join in, we can fund life-changing women’s health research that impacts the women you love. Link in bio.
#WomensHealth #WomensHealthResearch #Fundraiser
WHAM: Redefining the Health of Women
Women represent more than half of the population and drive the majority of healthcare decisions, yet women’s health remains significantly undercapitalized across research, product development, and private investment. By validating the economic opportunity and connecting stakeholders across the innovation pipeline, WHAM catalyzes market growth and advances innovation that improves healthspan and longevity for everyone.
Why WHAM Exists
WHAM was created in response to a longstanding gap in health research: women have historically been underrepresented in studies, clinical trials, and product development despite their central role in healthcare systems and economies.
Although policies requiring the inclusion of women in federally funded research were introduced in the 1990s, major disparities in funding, evidence generation, and innovation persist. These gaps have far-reaching consequences for health outcomes, workforce participation, and economic stability.
Our Founding Vision
In 2020, WHAM Founder Carolee Lee convened leaders from business, finance, and philanthropy to address this systemic challenge. The group recognized that durable change would require rigorous evidence demonstrating the economic costs of underinvestment and the potential returns of increased research focused on women.
To establish this foundation, WHAM commissioned the RAND Corporation to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the health and socioeconomic benefits of increased investment in women’s health research.
WHAM was established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2021 to catalyze accelerated research, innovation, and investment in the health of women, led by an esteemed board of expertise.
How We Drive Impact
WHAM aligns expertise, capital, and leadership to accelerate progress from discovery to real-world impact through a coordinated ecosystem of collaboratives and initiatives.
WHAM has three main platforms of expertise:
The WHAM Report
A series of studies that quantify the costs and economic benefits of increasing investments in women’s health research. Our intention was to build the business case for funding research focused on women by asking, “what are the economic impacts of increasing investment in women’s health research.”
The WHAM Edge Awards
The WHAM Edge Awards support early-career investigators pursuing groundbreaking research on sex-based differences in four critical areas: heart disease, brain health, autoimmune disease, and cancer.
The WHAM Collaboratives
Bringing together global investment leaders from VC, corporate VC, family offices, endowments, foundations, and government, similar to the WHAM Research Collaborative, to be the industry leading catalyst enabling us to achieve, and surpass, our goal to double VC investment for women.
The WHAM Research Collaborative
The Opportunity Ahead
The lives of women and men will vastly improve through research and product development that is equally inclusive of women and men in trials – and female and male animals in preliminary research. By conducting research and developing products in parity and reporting sex outcomes separately, health breakthroughs will be accelerated, and health outcomes around the world improved.
As women benefit from this research and development and reduce their burden of disease, they will improve their own wellbeing, which is directly connected to the wellbeing of our economy.
WHAM is committed to making an impact in diseases and conditions that exclusively, differently, or disproportionately affect women.
Join the Community
Follow us on LinkedIn to receive the latest in women’s health: @Women’s Health Access Matters
TAKE ACTION
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Donate to Women's Health Research
Women are 51% of the population but receive only a fraction of biomedical research funding. Sex differences are still often ignored, even in diseases that hit women hardest. Advancing sex-based research closes that gap, sparks innovation, and delivers more precise care for everyone. Support the future of health—for women, and for all.
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Donate to Autoimmune Disease Research
Four out of five Americans with autoimmune disease are women—40 million lives impacted—yet the science hasn’t kept up. In 2019, only 7 % of the NIH’s rheumatoid arthritis budget focused on women. Dedicated funding can pinpoint why women are so vulnerable and drive better diagnostics, therapies, and quality of life. Fuel research that will change lives.
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Donate to Brain Health Research
Women make up two-thirds of Alzheimer’s cases and are twice as likely to suffer depression—yet we still don’t know why. Targeted, sex-specific studies can reveal the biological and clinical differences that unlock earlier diagnosis, smarter treatments, and healthier minds. Your gift drives that discovery.
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Donate to Cancer Research
Most cancer studies still default to male models, overlooking critical sex differences in how cancers start, spread, and respond to therapy. Lung cancer now kills more women than breast, ovarian, and cervical cancers combined, and rates are soaring among young, non-smoking women. Boosting sex-based cancer research will reveal why—and lead to breakthroughs in screening, care, and survival. Help us accelerate that work.
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Donate to Heart Health Research
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, but it remains underfunded, under-researched, and underdiagnosed. Nearly half of women over 20 have cardiovascular disease, pregnancy heart risks are widespread, and women are 50% more likely to die after a heart attack. Focused research can rewrite those odds—changing how heart disease is detected, treated, and prevented in women. Invest in saving women’s hearts.
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