Critical Medical Unmet Need
Sex differences in the incidence and prevalence of diseases are pervasive.
Understanding the nature of these differences and impact on treatment is critical for realizing precision medicine. We believe there are shared causal pathways that explain sex differences that cross organs and systems throughout the brain and body. This is not surprising since every cell has a sex, and gonadal hormones (that differ by sex) have impact throughout the body. However, medicine has been built primarily on studies of male animals and within departmental silos. Thus, therapies are not targeted to multiple organs nor incorporate sex differences.
The Innovation Center on SeX Differences in Medicine (ICON-✘) is going to change that.