Nineteen projects for high-level, relevant research: the descriptions are now online

While funding in the USA for research on gender and diversity issues was cut at the beginning of the year, Switzerland is heading in the opposite direction. The National Research Programme NRP 83 "Gender Medicine and Health" is funding 19 projects that systematically consider the dimensions of sex and gender.

Insight into ongoing projects

The website of NRP 83 "Gender Medicine and Health" provides visitors with an overview of this National Research Programme in Switzerland. At the heart of the programme are the recently published brief descriptions of the 19 funded projects, all of which started in spring 2025. They show what the research teams are working on, which objective they are pursuing and what impact they are aiming to achieve or in which areas they wish to help bring about an improvement. When the first research results become available, they will be posted in the ‘Results’ section of the website.

Sex and health: a fundamental question

The question of how biological and social differences affect health is not optional – it is fundamental. Anyone who ignores these dimensions is simply working with distorted data and overlooking important correlations. As a result, they risk making wrong decisions when it comes to research, care and prevention.

NRP 83 helps to fill a fundamental gap: it establishes a scientific basis for making medical research and practice more inclusive, more precise and ultimately more effective – for everyone. Switzerland is thus positioning itself as a proactive player in the field of gender medicine and health, supporting research that is internationally relevant while making a difference locally.

The start of an active community of practice

However, NRP 83 is intended to be more than just a research programme. It’s a beginning. The projects that have been launched now highlight what is possible when diversity is taken seriously – and show how important it is to be consistent in continuing down this path. To this end, NRP 83 is committed to building an active community of practice together with other stakeholders – with researchers from the field of gender medicine and health, as well as other stakeholders from the health sector and professional and educational organisations.

The aim is to promote exchange among stakeholders, to facilitate mutual learning and to build knowledge with the purpose of further developing research, practice and policy in gender medicine and health.