Gendered Innovations

In 2011 the European Commission established an expert group 'Innovation Through Gender' to conduct a comprehensive review of this domain. The group involved more than sixty experts from across Europe, the United States, and Canada. The experts chose to go beyond simply pointing at loopholes and flaws, and instead looked at concrete examples of where appropriate treatment of gender differences enhances research. This is why the report will have real impact. For example, the report highlights how studying sex differences in animal models could lead to new post-traumatic brain injury treatments. It shows that innovative assistive technologies can be developed from a better knowledge of how elderly women as well as men interact with their local environments. And even at the most fundamental level, understanding sex differences in cell-based research will improve clinical guidelines for stem cell therapies.