‘Women’s health is having a big moment': First lady touts White House investment during NC visit

“If you ask any woman in American about her healthcare, she probably has a story to tell,” first lady Jill Biden said in Durham Wednesday.  

Biden attributed this universal female struggle to the lack of treatment for migraines, the unanswered questions about menopause and the heart disease that goes unnoticed because it doesn’t look the same in women as it does in men.  

Biden visited North Carolina Wednesday to tout the White House Administration’s investment in women’s health research, focusing specifically on issues women face in midlife like menopause and heart disease. She was joined by Gov. Roy Cooper, Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams and Dean of the Duke University School of Medicine Dr. Mary Klotman in the Research Triangle Park.  

“Together we can create a new future for healthcare,” Biden said. “A future where women leave doctors' offices with more answers than questions. Where no women or girl has to hear that ‘Oh it's all in your head,’ or ‘It's just stress.’ Where women aren’t just an afterthought in a world designed for men, but the first thought in a world designed for everyone.” 

The visit comes two days after President Joe Biden signed an extensive executive order to support women’s health research. 

The order calls for the National Institutes for Health to invest $200 million in the 2025 fiscal year into more than 20 new actions to address gaps in women’s health research. 

It will require that agencies report their investments in women’s health research in order to assess where the cracks may lie. 

North Carolina and the Research Triangle are fit to lead the way in this research, the first lady said.  

“You have created one of the most powerful research development ecosystems,” she said. 

Part of the Triangle’s excellence, Klotman said, is due to federal investment. 

“Federal investments in biomedical research have been instrumental in propelling Duke, and the Triangle, to a forefront of scientific discovery as a hub of scientific innovation and economic activity,” Klotman said.  

Genevieve Neal-Perry, chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at UNC Chapel Hill, has been researching women’s health for over two decades. The Tar Heel state, she said, has a lot to offer in this sector.  

“North Carolina is uniquely poised because of the diversity of the population,” Neal-Perry said. “Both from the perspective of race and ethnicity, but also from the perspective of socioeconomic status. And all of these things can have an impact on menopausal transition and the menopausal experience.” 

Neal-Perry's work focuses on hot flashes, a symptom associated with menopause. She hopes newly funded research can explore the impact hot flashes have on wellness, sleep function, weight gain, general health and their effect on heart disease. 

This work is done best as longitudinal studies and will likely take many years, she said.  

Investment in the women’s health sector is predicted to grow and strengthen regional and global economies.  

“In 2021, the women's health market was estimated to be worth $9 billion, but the Boston consulting group estimates that in just eight years, that number is going to grow to $29 billion,” Jill Biden said.  

In the Triangle, similar investments have already raised the standard of living and increased the region's economic strength, Klotman said.  

Although the funding is focused on women, Williams, the Durham mayor, called on men during his remarks.  

“For the fellas in the room, we’re feminists,” Williams said. “We’re supportive of this and we have to be the strongest advocates.”