Press Release 15 October, 2025 

Sex and gender differences in brain health could be leveraged to provide precision medicine and care for all; this is the work of the Women’s Brain Foundation and its new collaborator, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS).

In 2017, a group of neuroscientists founded the Women’s Brain Project (WBP). Headed by Dr. Antonella Santuccione Chadha, this global movement began providing irrefutable evidence as to why some neurological and psychiatric conditions present, are diagnosed, progress and respond to treatments differently in men and women. In 2024, WBP became the Women’s Brain Foundation (WBF). It coalesced like-minded academics, policy makers, international organizations and pharmaceutical experts, and together they have grown the Foundation’s scientific output, resulting in more than 50 scientific and policy publications and numerous collaborations with startups and biotech companies around the world.

Today, WBF is proud to announce it has formed a transformative collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), a global biopharmaceutical leader renowned for its commitment to transform individual patients’ lives through science. This collaboration demonstrates BMS’ commitment to our efforts to close the gender gap in brain and mental health.

“BMS’ continued support is instrumental in fostering our pioneering and transformative scientific output to ameliorate clinical research and clinical development for patients in need; it is also an opportunity for us to further our research and policy work to address the gender health gap.” said Dr. Santuccione Chadha.

Through this collaboration, WBF will host a webinar introducing core themes of Sex & Gender Precision Medicine and spotlighting WBF’s contributions to neuroscience and women’s brain capital. The next step for WBF is an educational academy as part of its Research Institute for Sex and Gender Precision Medicine.

“The Sex and Gender Precision Medicine Research Institute sets recommendations and guidelines for researchers and policymakers to achieve more inclusive and precise medicine.” said Dr. Santuccione Chadha.

For too long women have been neglected in access to health and clinical development. It is thanks to the support of organizations like BMS that we can direct the narrative towards more inclusive and diverse research and healthcare for all.

Contact us about our Corporate Membership at info@womensbrainfoundation.org

Why is this collaboration, and others just like it, necessary?

One of the biggest unmet needs for women around the world is the availability of effective treatments for neurological and psychiatric diseases. In fact, the evidence showing the differences in how a woman’s brain and a man’s brain respond to disease is remarkable.

1. Brain diseases and conditions haven’t received the attention necessary to advance to point of designing precision medicine.
2. However, compared to men, women are more often misdiagnosed, and evidence shows that sex can modulate both disease progression and treatment.

These differences have not received the scientific, evidence-based attention that they deserve. There is a serious lack of sex-based data in clinical trials. While a vast number of clinical trials –85.5%– include men and women, the vast majority –73.5%– do not include sex-based analysis.[i] A meta-analysis carried out by WBF on Alzheimer’s disease trials published in JAMA Network Open found that only seven studies reported sex-stratified information, out of 56 randomised controlled trials.[ii] In reality, two out of three Alzheimer’s patients are women – hardly a true representation in these trials.[iii] One consequence of this bias is the notion that neurological drugs work the same way in both sexes. This is not the case. Women are twice as likely to experience side effects compared to men.[iv]

Recent WBF-led publications underscore the urgency of addressing these gaps. In Nature Reviews Neurology, Castro-Aldrete et al. (2025) highlighted how Alzheimer’s disease must be understood through the lens of sex and gender to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.[v] Similarly, two companion pieces in Nature Medicine and Clinical and Translational Medicine emphasize the need for a sex- and gender-informed approach in Parkinson’s disease care, outlining both the scientific challenges and the clinical opportunities.[vi][vii]

Women live longer than men; a 2023 study shows that the now nearly six-year gap between the sexes is the longest it’s been in 27 years[viii]. However, women also live more years in ill health and disability than men do. This is known as the morbidity-mortality paradox (that is, women are sicker but tend to live longer). The implications extend beyond disparities in access to care and treatment; they also have profound economic and societal consequences. For example, WBF and collaborators at the London School of Economics have shown how advancing women’s brain health can strengthen economic resilience [,[x]].

Critically, one in three people globally have a brain disorder. In May 2023, in a Lancet Neurology editorial announcing the WBP-Commissioned Economist Impact White Paper, it was highlighted that just in the US and Europe alone, the annual cost of neurological disorders amounts to USD $1.7 trillion.[xi] The need to address such a public health issue is in keeping with the need to control escalating financial burdens globally. In this context, investing in women’s brain health is not only a scientific necessity but also a socioeconomic imperative. Recent work by WBF in Nature Mental Health demonstrates how advancing women’s brain health is directly linked to strengthening brain capital and, ultimately, global economic resilience.[xii]

In sum, the support provided by BMS marks a pivotal step toward closing the gender health gap and strengthening brain capital, demonstrating how investing in women’s brain health is both a scientific necessity and an economic imperative.


— [i] Mamlouk GM, Dorris DM, Barrett LR, et al. Sex bias and omission in neuroscience research is influenced by research model and journal, but not reported NIH funding. Front Neuroendocrinol. 2020;57:100835.
[ii] Martinkova J, Quevenco F, Karcher H, et al. Proportion of Women and Reporting of Outcomes by Sex in Clinical Trials for Alzheimer Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(9):e2124124. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.24124
[iii] Martinkova J, Quevenco F, Karcher H, et al. Proportion of Women and Reporting of Outcomes by Sex in Clinical Trials for Alzheimer Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(9):e2124124. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.24124
[iv] Zucker I, Prendergast BJ. Sex differences in pharmacokinetics predict adverse drug reactions in women. Biol Sex Differ. 2020;11(1):32
[v]Castro-Aldrete, L., Einsiedler, M., Novakova Martinkova, J. et al. Alzheimer disease seen through the lens of sex and gender. Nat Rev Neurol 21, 235–249 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-025-01071-0
[vi]Using a sex- and gender-informed lens to enhance care in Parkinson’s disease. Nature Medicine https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-024-03363-2
[vii]A Sex- and Gender-Informed Future for Parkinson’s Disease Care. Journal: Clinical and Translational Medicine. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ctm2.70382
[viii] Yan BW, Arias E, Geller AC, Miller DR, Kochanek KD, Koh HK. Widening Gender Gap in Life Expectancy in the US, 2010-2021. JAMA Intern Med. 2024;184(1):108–110. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.6041
[ix]Cost effectiveness of different treatment strategies with natalizumab for pregnant women with Multiple Sclerosis. Journal of Neurology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-024-12736-z
[x] Economic implications of off-road cycle lanes to increase physical activity and reduce sex and gender differences in the risk of dementia Journal: International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gps.70067
[xi]The Lancet N (2023) Sex, gender, and the cost of neurological disorders. The Lancet Neurology 22 (5):367. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(23)00120-5
[xii] Castro-Aldrete, L., Greenfield, M., Smith, E. et al. Women’s brain health and brain capital. Nat. Mental Health 3, 488–497 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-025-00406-6