A new centre in pioneering women's health research and innovation has been officially launched in Wales, marking a major step forward in addressing long-standing inequalities in health outcomes for women and girls.
Funded by Welsh Government through Health and Care Research Wales, Women's Health Research Wales was established in April 2025, as one of five centres funded through Health and Care Research Wales's Research Development Infrastructure Catalytic Funding Award, designed to boost capacity and capability in areas of health and care need and emerging Welsh research strengths.
The official launch event took place in December at Cardiff University's spark|sbarc building, bringing together researchers, policymakers, NHS partners, third-sector organisations, industry representatives, and members of the public to celebrate the creation of the new centre and its mission.
First Minister Eluned Morgan said: "Women make up more than half the population, yet the amount spent on women's health research is tiny and many of the issues that matter are not being researched. The knowledge that we get from the centre will be spread throughout the NHS and the whole of Wales.
"There are so few centres like this, so the work that comes from here will really stand out. This is a place of real expertise, with researchers who are absolutely committed to women's health research and making a difference to women's lives."
Sarah Murphy, Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, said: "We are up against a history of women not being heard or believed and a lot of the testing for health has been on men's bodies, not ours."
"For so long, women have been trying to advocate for themselves. They are going to their clinicians and saying something isn't right but - because the research into those areas hasn't necessarily been done for women's bodies - sometimes it's really hard to make the case for what is happening and what you may need."
Women's Health Research Wales is a pan-Wales network of women's health researchers, methodologists, and public and private partners, who are aiming to eliminate inequalities in the health and well-being of girls, women, and people assigned female at birth.
The Centre's remit goes beyond reproductive health - covering conditions unique to women, those that disproportionately affect women, and those that present differently in women. The network's work spans prevention and healthy transitions, early and life-long conditions, rare and stigmatised conditions, and underserved communities.
Acting as a catalyst for change in women's health research and innovation, the network will:
- Generate an impactful, interdisciplinary, and methodologically rigorous research portfolio.
- Create a collision space for academic-industry partnerships to trigger innovation and commercialisation.
- Facilitate long-lasting cycles of co-production, priority setting and health impact, involving policymakers, NHS staff, the public, and the third sector.
- Develop acceptable and feasible policy to integrate sex and gender into health and social care digital data capture and research in Wales.
- Build a thriving network of experts to become future researchers, practitioners, policymakers, third sector, and industry leaders in women's health.
Since its establishment in April 2025, the centre has already delivered a number of early successes, which were highlighted at the launch, alongside recognition of the many partners and contributors whose collective efforts secured the funding and made the centre possible.
"Wales is an agile country, because it's very interconnected, and it is interconnected in terms of the researchers, the practitioners, the public voices, and that means we can all work together as a single driving force to realising our centre's vision."
Women's Health Research Wales is hosted by Cardiff University and works collaboratively with partners across all regions of Wales.
