We are thrilled to celebrate a landmark moment for UK health research: the launch of new sex and gender policies by Wellcome, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
These important policies set the expectation that applications for research funding demonstrate a robust plan for consideration of sex and gender from the first stages of study design, underlining that sex and gender are essential dimensions of scientific excellence.
The policies mark a major step towards more rigorous and equitable science, helping to ensure that research fully represents the diversity of all people it aims to serve. This progress complements recent changes to funding processes adopted by medical research charities including Breakthrough T1D, Cystic Fibrosis Trust and Fight for Sight.
What the new funder policies say
The Sex and gender in health research policy (Wellcome), Sex and gender in research policy (NIHR) and Diversity in research design policy (BHF) require that researchers consider sex, gender or both throughout the whole research lifecycle, including research design, participant recruitment, data collection, analysis and output dissemination.
While not every study will need to account for sex/gender in the same way, and for some studies it may be appropriate to only investigate single sex/gender samples, policies underline above all that researchers must provide a robust justification for their approach.
"The MESSAGE project aims to integrate sex and gender as a fundamental consideration in health research. Wellcome is super supportive of this. This aligns seamlessly with our vision of a future where health research is fully utilised to solve urgent health challenges… In addition, we want research to be inclusive, impactful, and responsive to societal needs… By supporting MESSAGE, Wellcome is helping to forge a path towards a research culture that readily embraces diversity, leads with integrity, and delivers benefits equitably."
By:Diego Baptista
Head of Research and Funding Equity at Wellcome Trust (MESSAGE launch webinar)
Why this matters
Historically, biomedical, health and care research has under-represented non-male participants and rarely disaggregates data by sex and/or gender during analysis and when reporting research results. This critical limitation undermines scientific accuracy, limits generalisability and worsens health outcomes, especially for female patients, trans and non-binary people, and people with variations of sex characteristics.
The role of MESSAGE
Over 2023-24, the MESSAGE project team led the co-design of the UK's first sex and gender policy framework for funders.
The policy framework sets out clear expectations for researchers to consider sex and gender at every stage of their research as well as outlining the implications for all those working in medical research (including funders and universities, patients and the public). It provides guidance on the meaning and use of the terms "sex" and "gender" in the context of health and care research, and breaks down what it means to account for sex and gender in practice.
"I so much welcome [the MESSAGE] recommendations, which have come from the kind of collaboration that I have never seen before in 25-30 years of working in UK medical research… It just doesn't happen and should happen more often. At The Lancet we are super excited by the opportunity that the MESSAGE project presents… We will do everything we can to see its vision is fully realised.
By:Richard Horton
Editor-in-Chief of The Lancet (MESSAGE launch webinar)
MESSAGE has also provided a toolkit for funders with detailed guidance on where and how to make changes across the grant process to embed requirements and nudges about new expectations around sex and gender dimensions.
The journey ahead
The MESSAGE team, leading the way for improved consideration of sex and gender in biomedical, health and care research in the UK, is delighted that key funders are committing to equity and quality in research. MESSAGE is continuing to work with funders, regulators, publishers and research institutes to embed consideration of sex and gender as a norm of research excellence.
Our priorities include:
- Providing accessible guidance and training for researchers on how to integrate sex and gender in medical research. Our website hosts an e-learning module for researchers and a library of best practice sex and gender research. February 2026 will see the launch of the short course Integrating sex and gender in health research and policy, which offers comprehensive training for anyone working in healthcare research, policy or delivery.
- Working with funders to develop and embed robust systems for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of sex and gender policies and areas where further work is needed.
- Collaborating with publishers and journals to implement the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines, which require transparent reporting of sex and gender disaggregated data and analyses in academic papers. Publishing requirements ensure continuity and accountability of expectations from design to publication.
- In addition, the programme of work aims to improve translation of evidence on sex and gender differences (and similarities) into clinical practice, working with key UK stakeholders to make change in this area.
The launch of these first-of-their-kind UK sex and gender research policies by major funders signals that sex and gender are no longer 'nice-to-have' or peripheral considerations, but core determinants of research quality, reproducibility and equity.
The MESSAGE team warmly celebrate this milestone and invite the research community to take the time to familiarise themselves with the new requirements to ensure that biomedical, health and care research is designed for everyone.
