Research policies

Sex and gender play fundamental roles in individual and population health. Sex and gender influence the medical conditions people develop, the symptoms they experience, the treatments and quality of care they receive, their disease progression and their overall outcomes. Studying and understanding sex and gender differences and similarities is essential for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of medicines and care, to improve the health of all people in the UK.

High-quality, reproducible and inclusive biomedical, health and care research requires consideration of sex and gender at every stage, from study design and recruitment to data analysis and transparent reporting of results. Unlike other high-income countries – notably Canada, the United States and European nations under Horizon Europe – the UK currently has no standard, unified guidance for researchers about how adequately to consider sex dimensions in cell and animal studies, and sex and gender dimensions in human studies.

The UK’s MESSAGE initiative has co-designed a sex and gender policy which will be available from 2024. Culture change in this space will ensure the UK cements its position as a world leader in rigorous, sustainable science and provides the most effective evidence to improve outcomes for patients and society, which we strongly support.

"We’re committed to providing our research community with the guidance, skills and tools to ensure that future research meets the needs of all people, no matter their sex or gender. At Breast Cancer Now, we will work towards making this change in the way we support research." - Dr Simon Vincent, Director, research, support and influencing

Inclusion of older people in research, including clinical trials, will lead to the development of more effective clinical, social, and public health strategies to address age-related health issues and improve the quality of life for our ageing population.

Relative to the proportion of disease, older adults are disproportionally underrepresented in research. Excluding older adults from relevant research is unethical and often leads to research not being representative of the groups who have most disease. It can result in treatments that are less effective for the very people who most need support.

As a research funder community, we will commit to actively supporting the inclusion of older adults in research, particularly where health conditions have a particular impact on this group. Furthermore, we will challenge any unwarranted exclusion of older adults or those with long-term conditions (multimorbidity) from research. These exclusions are rarely justified and fail to align with the principles of equity and scientific excellence.

With a renewed commitment to addressing this area of health equity, we can make a difference in ensuring that our work addresses their health and care needs, aiming to enhance outcomes across the UK.