Executive summary
This open-access article outlines a comprehensive, three-phase model for integrating sex and gender into research. It shows that decades of medical research have been built on predominantly male data sets, resulting in care guidelines that are often unsafe or ineffective for women. The paper highlights the methodological steps required to correct this structural flaw in biomedical science.
Key takeaways
Most medical research historically uses male-biased study populations, leaving sex differences poorly understood.
Sex and gender fundamentally affect disease risk, symptoms, diagnosis accuracy, treatment response, and prognosis.
The paper outlines strict methodological standards to include sex-disaggregated data at every research stage from recruitment to analysis.
Without systematic inclusion, “precision medicine” risks becoming biased and less precise for half the population.
The roadmap is intended to guide researchers, educators, policymakers, and clinicians toward science that genuinely reflects biological reality.