Males are still the default subjects in medical research. Why?

It is a commonly known fact that women account for half of the world’s population. Yet, most research pertaining to health and physiology are conducted in males. This fact is especially prevalent in fundamental research spaces, which purely build on knowledge that does not have an application yet, and pre-clinical animal research studies, 

According to Severine Lamon and Olivia Knowles of The Conversation, research conducted in the field of exercise physiology is only 6% full female participant groups. 

Females aren’t studied as frequently as their male counterparts due to deeper intricacies in their physiology. In particular, the innate changes brought on by the women’s menstrual cycle interfere with the ability to assess how a body responds to a given external stimulus. Additionally, when research with female subjects is performed properly, there is a chance the findings do not apply to all females. In research studies, it is important to elucidate sex-specific differences, but no matter the potential additional complexities, research should be equitably conducted. Some progress has been made, as, recently, the NIH announced that both sexes must be studied to receive funding. 

The aforementioned article authors Severine Lamon and Olivia Knowles have even developed an infographic to make research involving females more accessible and their respective frameworks more simple to design (Fig. 1).

The article states, “So yes, the future is female - so is our research.” I wholeheartedly agree with this statement, as a future global health professional aspiring to bring equity to females in basic and translational research settings. 

Fig. 1 - Infographic

Courtesy of theconversation.com (Severine Lamon, Olivia Knowles)