EU support for research and innovation in women's health
The European Union is committed to advancing women’s health through research and innovation. Under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, the EU has invested over €2 billion in more than 1000 projects focused on women's health, driving progress in medical research, disease prevention, and gender-sensitive healthcare solutions.
Key areas of focus include cancer detection and screening, cardiovascular health, personalised medicine, reproductive health, maternal and child health, infectious diseases, and clinical studies.
The EU is also dedicated to ensuring that women’s specific needs are considered across all research domains.
Under Horizon Europe, the integration of the gender dimension into research and innovation projects is a mandatory and a requirement by default. The provision of a Gender Equality Plan is an eligibility criterion for all public bodies, higher education institutions, and research organisations participating in Horizon-funded projects.
Through strategic investments, international collaborations, and policy initiatives, the EU is transforming women's healthcare and paving the way for a more equitable and effective healthcare system.
EU-funded projects on women's health
The EU is actively funding projects to close gender gaps in healthcare, enhance disease prevention, and develop targeted treatments for women. These initiatives address under-diagnosed conditions, promote greater inclusion in clinical trials, and drive advancements in personalised medicine. See examples below under Projects and Results.
Funding opportunities
Funding for health under the research and innovation framework programme, Horizon Europe
EU4Health is the fourth and largest of the EU health programmes since their launch in 2003.
Projects and results
Projects in the field of women's health
Improving cardiovascular risk assessment in menopausal women through AI-powered models that integrate clinical records, medical imaging, wearable sensor data, and lifestyle information to enable personalised prevention strategies.
Developing an improved treatment for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) through a multi-centre, double-blind, phase II clinical trial across seven European hospitals. The study tests a combination of spironolactone, pioglitazone, and metformin in a single tablet, focusing on early intervention to prevent subfertility and other long-term health risks.
A prevention study involving 10,000 men and women, aiming to provide evidence-based recommendations on alcohol consumption and its health impacts on women.
An EU co-funded IHI project, €30 million initiative creating a trusted biomedical ecosystem that provides evidence-based information on medication safety during pregnancy and breastfeeding.
An EU co-funded IHI trial, €115 million investment in autism research, focusing on understanding sex differences in autism and improving diagnosis and treatment.
€7 million research initiative, launched in January 2025, working with patient organisations across Europe to improve endometriosis treatments.
EU co-funded Global Health EDCTP3 project, investigating mpox virus transmission among pregnant women in Congo, contributing to maternal health research in vulnerable populations.
Collaboration and jobs
Look for project partners and view profiles of all organisations that have received funding via the funding and tender opportunities portal
Public-private partnership supported by the European Commission that also invests in research in women's health
Researcher jobs in related fields
Scientific publications, tools and databases
Interactive reporting platform, composed of a set of sheets that allows series of views to discover and filter data from the EU's research programmes
Scientific publications produced by the European Commission (JRC)
Single point of access to open data produced by the EU institutions. All data free to use for commercial and non-commercial purposes
You can access all scientific publications from Horizon 2020 via OpenAIRE
Through the EU Roadmap for Women’s Rights, the European Commission underlines the importance of gender equality in healthcare, and prioritises gender-sensitive medical research and clinical studies to ensure that the understanding of health, as well as diseases, related diagnostics, and treatments accounts for the differences between men and women.
Factsheet with key messages on the report investigating the impact of the lockdown measures on women researchers' productivity and career progression and the policy recommendations on mitigating the negative impact and strengthening gender equality in the ERA in the recovery period.