Effecting change starts with setting our sights on new frontiers

Last Thursday, supporters of Women's Health Research at Yale (WHRY) gathered in New York City to discuss the center's work and a shared belief in the demonstrated potential for scientific research to lead to better, longer, more comfortable lives for people around the world.

For centuries, medical innovations have led to new methods for easing pain, preventing illness and curing disease. However, history tells us the kind of progress that positively impacts humanity usually doesn't happen without shattering long-held perceptions about what is and isn't possible.

“Few new ideas are developed without abandoning old ones first,” said Dr. Carolyn M. Mazure, Director of WHRY, at last week's event. Dr. Mazure was paraphrasing the thesis of a book of essays she had recently read ("This Idea Must Die: Scientific Theories That Are Blocking Progress" edited by John Brockman) that highlights the need to challenge and dismiss outdated ways of thinking in order to spur scientific advancements.

Dr. Mazure speaks from experience: the self-supporting center she leads is unlocking new and innovative approaches to better understand sex-and-gender differences when it comes to medical knowledge and treatment.

Over the past 20 years, WHRY has provided $5 million in seed grant funding to roughly 90 researchers, who've since leveraged this initial support to obtain more than $100 million in additional external funding to further their work from sources like the National Institutes of Health. These experts are tackling a significant but too-often-overlooked imperative: the ability to more finely calibrate approaches to care for both women and men by more closely studying the impact of sex and gender on health.

For decades, women were not regularly included in clinical trials investigating the prevention and treatment of diseases and conditions. Even today, women remain underrepresented in many studies, including those on many forms of heart disease and cancer — the two most common causes of mortality in women. Women have also been underrepresented in vital ground-floor laboratory studies that form the necessary foundation for human trials.

The community of medical professionals and supporters associated with organizations like WHRY, including my own family, is dedicated to turning the page on those outdated practices. In her talk last week, Dr. Mazure highlighted some of the ways WHRY is creating new ways of answering questions like:

• Can the chemical fingerprints of the colon's metabolic process explain why women have higher rates of a more deadly right-sided colon cancer than men?
• Can we predict how gene mutations will increase the likelihood of developing ovarian cancer?
• Are there differences in the ways women's and men's brains respond to the chemical impact of cannabis?

Making headway in each of these areas requires the courage to push beyond the boundaries of conventional wisdom. By eliminating the practices, tenets or beliefs that curtail 'possibility thinking,' organizations like WHRY are introducing new ways to approach sex-and-gender variations that have the potential to improve lives.

As I sat with my wife and two of our daughters listening to Dr. Mazure last week, it occurred to me that her insights apply to fields beyond medical research. From business to the arts to public policy and the sciences, game-changing leadership occurs when you foresee a future that others have yet to conceive – and then you're able to inspire a collective effort to realize that vision.

My family and I are proud to be associated with an organization like WHRY that embraces this philosophy at the core of its mission.