RAISE
RAising the Investment in Sex and gender Evidence
RAising the Investment in Sex and gender Evidence (RAISE) is a partnership of FOCUS and Penn PROMOTES
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RAISE is a structural intervention that aims to 1) advance scientists working to close the sex and gender data gap, 2) achieve gender equity in the scientific workforce, and 3) incorporate the analysis of sex and gender differences into research programs throughout the University of Pennsylvania's biomedical schools. RAISE will award grant funding to biomedical school faculty to pursue new research or revisit earlier research findings, applying sex and gender-disaggregated data analysis.
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RAISE Pilot Grant Program
The due date for 2025-26 RAISE proposals will be announced soon.
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The RAISE Pilot Grant program awards grants of up to $20,000 to research that aligns with the RAISE aims. The RAISE grant guide is available for more details about the eligibility, application, and selection process.
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Two (2) grants will be awarded in the 2025-26 cycle.
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Please reach out to Bridget Dougherty (bridget.dougherty2@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) with any questions.
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Previously funded RAISE Pilots
RAISE Directory
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The RAISE Directory houses PSOM research that addresses sex and/or gender differences and women's health across all scientific methods. Our goal is to capture a comprehensive catalog of the sex and gender research landscape at our institution and create a helpful reference and build community. ​​
If you would like to join the directory, please complete this brief form. ​​
Why RAISE?
What is the sex and gender data gap?
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The medical sex and gender data gap is well-established (2). Despite this fact, and efforts by the NIH including the Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV) policy, the assertion that sex and gender do not matter or are too complex to incorporate, perpetuates the male default bias at every stage of research, from preclinical mice models to clinical trial recruitment (3-5). The lack of sex and gender-disaggregated data has led to an intrinsically biased medical system that is guided by a spurious understanding of disease processes as they present in women. Sex and gender-disaggregated data is also critical to achieving gender equity in academic medicine (6). ​​
What is the difference between sex and gender?
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Sex is a multidimensional biological construct based on anatomy, physiology, genetics, and hormones. All animals (including humans) have a sex. As is common across health research communities, NIH usually categorizes sex as male or female, although variations do occur. These variations are called differences in sex development (DSD) or intersex conditions (1).
Gender is relevant only for research with humans (not other animals). Gender can be broadly defined as a multidimensional construct that encompasses gender identity and expression, as well as social and cultural expectations about status, characteristics, and behavior as they are associated with certain sex traits (1).
​References
(1) ​National Institutes of Health. Office of Research on Women's Health. What are Sex and Gender? https://orwh.od.nih.gov/sex-gender
(2) Caroline Criado Perez, Criado Perez. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men. New York: Abrams Press, 2019.
(3) National Institutes of Health. Consideration of Sex as a Biological Variable in NIH-funded Research <https://orwh.od.nih.gov/sites/orwh/files/docs/NOT-OD-15-102%20Guidance.pdf>. 2016.
(4) Zucker I, Beery AK. Males still dominate animal studies. Nature (London). 2010; 465:690.
(5) Marts SA, Keitt S. Foreword: a historical overview of advocacy for research in sex-based biology. In: Advances in Molecular and Cell Biology. Elsevier B.V, 2004:v-xiii.
(6) Raj A, Kumra T, Darmstadt G, Freund K. Achieving gender and social equality: More than gender parity is needed. Academic medicine. 2019; 94:1658-1664.