---
title: "NIH awards $4.6M to multi-university team to model hormones and improve women's health"
id: "endocrine-news-0-nih-awards-multi-university-team-over-4m-to-improve-women-s-health"
canonical_url: "https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/endocrine-news-0-nih-awards-multi-university-team-over-4m-to-improve-women-s-health"
content_type: "clinical_feed_article"
specialty: "Endocrinology"
source_name: "Endocrine News"
source_url: "https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/nih-awards-multi-university-team-over-4m-to-improve-womens-health/"
published_at: "2026-09-14T16:07:16.000Z"
evidence_level: "Verified Feed"
license: "CC-BY-NC-4.0 / Informational Use"
---
# NIH awards $4.6M to multi-university team to model hormones and improve women's health
## Provenance & Clinical Metadata
- **Canonical URL:** https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/endocrine-news-0-nih-awards-multi-university-team-over-4m-to-improve-women-s-health
- **Specialty:** [Endocrinology](https://medichelpline.com/clinical-feed/endocrinology.md)
- **Primary Source:** Endocrine News
- **Source URL:** [Original Journal Publication](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/nih-awards-multi-university-team-over-4m-to-improve-womens-health/)
- **Published At:** 2026-09-14T16:07:16.000Z
- **Evidence Rating:** Verified Feed
## Executive GIST (TL;DR)
- The NIH has awarded an initial $4.6 million grant (part of up to $12.8 million over three years) to a multi-university team to develop computational tools aimed at improving **women's health** and drug prescribing across the life course. - The award supports a collaboration led by Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD, with investigators from Michigan State University, Rutgers, Emory, Tulane, University of Colorado Anschutz, University of Michigan, and University of Utah. - The project is part of the national Computational Modeling of Hormone Homeostasis Initiative, a joint effort by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health and the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives; the broader initiative has $21 million in awards and the grant number is 1OT2OD042764. - The team will build advanced **computational models** to predict how reproductive hormone fluctuations (menstrual cycle, pregnancy, menopause, contraception, hormone therapy) alter pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of commonly used medications. - Investigators emphasize that clinical trials often overlook female hormone variability, which can reduce efficacy or increase adverse effects for women compared with men. - The project has five stated goals: curate 40+ years of hormone research with AI into an open database; create a standard model of a 28-day menstrual cycle and hormone regulation of organs; expand models with real-world patient data for different reproductive stages and comorbidities; validate predictions using 3D human tissue and organoid testing; and develop personalized prescribing tools for drugs including metformin, insulin and GLP-1 agents. - The final output will be an open-access platform intended to inform clinicians, guideline developers and researchers, with expectations to influence NIH guidance, safety standards and clinical testing protocols. - Team members named in the article include Teresa Woodruff, Nanette Santoro, Hao Zhu, Sudin Bhattacharya, Brian Johnson, Rance Nault, Timothy Zacharewski, Shuo Xiao, Jiyang Zhang, Ariella Shikanov, Corrine Welt and Mary Sammel. - The source notes an editor’s credit: content provided by Michigan State University’s MSU Newsroom. - All factual details and quotations reflect the information reported in the source article; no additional study data or timelines beyond what the source provided were reported.
## Clinical Analysis & Structured Key Points
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[Login](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/auth/login/?redirect=https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/nih-awards-multi-university-team-over-4m-to-improve-womens-health/) ![](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/wp-content/themes/mg-starter/assets/images/Endocrine_News_standard_logo.svg) * * * # NIH Awards Multi-University Team Over $4M to Improve Women’s Health September 14, 2026 Print this article Share this article Backed by a new $4.6 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), several university researchers are launching a novel project to transform how medications are developed and prescribed for women. This is the first installment of an award worth up to $12.8 million over three years. Researchers from Rutgers, Emory, Tulane, University of Colorado Anschutz, University of Michigan, and University of Utah are collaborating with the MSU team to accomplish this goal, which the lead scientist describes as a moon shot. “Women experience large shifts in reproductive hormones at several points in their lifespan: puberty, pregnancy and menopause,” said **Endocrine Society President Nanette Santoro, MD** , the E. Stewart Taylor Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado Anschutz. “During reproductive years, women also undergo profound day-to-day changes in reproductive hormone levels, giving them a markedly different endocrine backdrop than men. Using state-of-the-art computational technology to examine how these changes interact with commonly used medications is a critical pathway toward supporting life-course women’s health.” Clinical trials often fail to account for the unique ways female hormones change throughout life — such as during menstrual cycles, pregnancy, birth control use, menopause and hormone replacement therapy. This oversight can lead to treatments that are less effective or cause more severe side effects in women than in men. > ![](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/wp-content/uploads/Santoro-Headshot-2025.jpg) > “During reproductive years, women also undergo profound day-to-day changes in reproductive hormone levels, giving them a markedly different endocrine backdrop than men. Using state-of-the-art computational technology to examine how these changes interact with commonly used medications is a critical pathway toward supporting life-course women’s health.” – **Endocrine Society President Nanette Santoro, MD** , the E. Stewart Taylor Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado Anschutz To bridge this gap, 13 researchers are collaborating to build advanced computer models that will predict how a woman’s natural hormonal changes affect how medicines move through and act within the body. Their findings are expected to result in stronger research studies, advances in precision medicine and better real-world outcomes for women. “Developing computational models that provide insights into women’s health — including the consequences of disease, efficacy and side effects of medicines — and integrate age and reproductive cycle stage is a moon shot,” said former Endocrine Society President **Teresa K. Woodruff, PhD** , the lead investigator on this project, president emerita of MSU and an MSU Research Foundation Distinguished Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at the MSU College of Human Medicine and in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at MSU’s College of Engineering. “Our world-class team is taking on this project to enable a generation of healthier women.” This award is part of a national program, the just-announced **[Computational Modeling of Hormone Homeostasis Initiative](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/nih-launches-21-million-initiative-to-improve-understanding-of-sex-specific-hormonal-biology/)** , which is a joint effort by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health and the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives to leverage advancements in computer modeling to deepen the understanding of sex-specific hormonal biology. A total of $21 million is being awarded to expand national research and high-impact science. The award number is 1OT2OD042764. Research teams across the country will be developing the next generation of human-based data-driven tools that advance understanding of hormone-related health and improve care for people and communities. ## **Closing the Gap in Women’s Metabolic Health** Metabolic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cholesterol imbalances and thyroid disorders are widespread in women. They also frequently co-occur with reproductive conditions like polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS. Because energy metabolism and female reproductive hormones directly influence each other, widely prescribed drugs — including insulin and GLP-1 weight-loss and diabetes medications — can produce different results in women depending on their individual hormone levels. “Because female hormone levels are constantly shifting, precision medicine allows us to map out these complex interactions,” Woodruff said. “This NIH-backed initiative will create the first computationally driven clinical tool designed to guide medical care across every stage of a woman’s life.” The team will use advanced computational and modeling frameworks to accomplish five main goals: 1. Artificial intelligence will digitize and organize over 40 years of hormone research data, creating a free, publicly accessible database. 2. A standard computer model will map out a normal 28-day menstrual cycle alongside how key organs (like the liver, muscle and fat tissues) are regulated by hormones to process nutrients. 3. Real-world patient data will expand the standard digital model to account for various groups — such as women going through menopause or taking birth control — and specific health conditions like diabetes and obesity. 4. Lab-grown organ testing will be achieved by using human-relevant three-dimensional tissue models and mini lab-grown organoids (such as liver, muscle and ovarian tissue) to inform, test and verify the computer predictions. 5. Personalized treatment tools for specific medications (including metformin, insulin and GLP-1 drugs) predicted by the computer models will help doctors better prescribe ideal doses and avoid dangerous side effects. ## **Public Health Impact** The final open-access computer platform will give healthcare providers practical tools to anticipate drug efficacies, prevent harmful side effects and tailor prescriptions for female patients. Additionally, the findings will directly inform NIH guidelines, national safety standards and clinical protocols for testing new treatments. “By systematically and automatically extracting and curating decades of fragmented public research and clinical data, we are finally dismantling a historic data gap in this research project,” said Hao Zhu, professor of biomedical informatics and genomics at the Tulane University School of Medicine. _“_ Transforming these raw, disparate datasets into structured, actionable insights enables modelers and informaticians to accelerate precision health and disease models tailored specifically to women’s biology. This critical data-driven computational infrastructure elevates women’s health from an understudied niche to a central scientific priority, paving the way for more equitable, life-saving outcomes worldwide.” > ![](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/wp-content/uploads/woodruff_2024-731x1024.jpg) > “Because female hormone levels are constantly shifting, precision medicine allows us to map out these complex interactions. This NIH-backed initiative will create the first computationally driven clinical tool designed to guide medical care across every stage of a woman’s life.” – Teresa Woodruff, PhD, former Endocrine Society president All computer models and data produced through this NIH initiative will be freely available to researchers and healthcare professionals worldwide upon completion. Additional researchers include Sudin Bhattacharya, Brian Johnson, Rance Nault and Timothy Zacharewski from MSU, Shuo Xiao and Jiyang Zhang from Rutgers University, Ariella Shikanov from the University of Michigan, Endocrine Society member **Corrine Welt** from the University of Utah, and Mary Sammel from the University of Colorado Anschutz. [_EDITOR’S NOTE: The content of this story was provided by Michigan State University’s MSU Newsroom_.] * * * ## TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE: [In Touch](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/category/in-touch/)[Member News](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/category/in-touch/member-news-in-touch/)[Women’s Health](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/category/patient-populations/womens-health/) ←[NIH launches $21 million initiative to improve understanding of sex-specific hormonal biology ](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/nih-launches-21-million-initiative-to-improve-understanding-of-sex-specific-hormonal-biology/) ## RELATED ARTICLES * ### [ Endocrine Society Applauds Introduction of Bipartisan Bill to Address Insulin Affordability in the House ](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/endocrine-society-applauds-introduction-of-bipartisan-bill-to-address-insulin-affordability-in-the-house/) September 3, 2026 * ![Where Disciplines Converge: Keystone and Society Partner on Scientific Meeting Series](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/wp-content/uploads/ENDO-2026-keystone-symposium-1024x768.jpg) ### [ Where Disciplines Converge: Keystone and Society Partner on Scientific Meeting Series ](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/where-disciplines-converge-keystone-and-society-partner-on-scientific-meeting-series/) August 20, 2026 * ![Looking Back: Unforgettable Moments from ENDOs Past](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/wp-content/uploads/ENDO-2022-all-sig-reception-scaled-1-1024x682.jpg) ### [ Looking Back: Unforgettable Moments from ENDOs Past ](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/looking-back-unforgettable-moments-from-endos-past/) July 2, 2026 * * * ADVERTISEMENT [View Archives](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/magazine-issues/) ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ![](https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/wp-content/themes/mg-starter/assets/images/scientists_optim-1024x569.jpg) ## Join the Global Movement Advancing Endocrine Science and Medicine Become a part of a community of 18,000-plus endocrine investigators and clinicians who conduct research and provide quality patient care in more than 100 countries. 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