WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday creating a new women’s health division within the National Institutes of Health and establishing the first White House task force dedicated to women’s health, in a move the administration described as historic. The order, signed alongside First Lady Melania Trump at a White House event, directs the Department of Health and Human Services to set up the division within 90 days.
The executive order, titled “Advancing Women’s Health to Improve Outcomes in All Phases of Life”, instructs HHS to build the new division in coordination with the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health, which was established in 1990. According to the White House, the division will strengthen scientific research, accelerate medical breakthroughs and improve health outcomes for American women and girls rather than replacing the existing office.
The task force will be led by White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who recently announced that she is cancer-free, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump said at the event. The White House fact sheet says the task force will pursue a comprehensive approach to women’s health across all life stages — from infancy and adolescence through the reproductive years, midlife, menopause and healthy ageing — and will translate research findings into prevention, diagnosis, treatment and clinical policy.
“The executive order I’ll sign in just a moment will direct the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a new women’s health division within the National Institute of Health,” Trump said. “That’s a big deal. They’ve been after it for a long time. Who the hell wouldn’t have a woman’s health division? Melania said they don’t have it.”
What the Women’s Health Division Will Do
The new division must be established within an appropriate NIH institute or centre within 90 days, according to the order. It will advance research into conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women, strengthen accountability in federally funded research and speed up the translation of scientific discoveries into clinical care. The White House said the move is meant to broaden the government’s focus beyond research and prioritise turning discoveries into treatment for women and girls.
The division will also focus on speeding up diagnosis and improving treatment of women’s health conditions that remain understudied. Officials said it will boost the inclusion of women and girls in clinical trials and hold grant recipients accountable for considering sex as a biological variable in their research designs.
The Women’s Health Task Force and Its First Steps
The White House Women’s Health Task Force is the first of its kind and will be co-chaired by Wiles and Kennedy. It will coordinate federal efforts to improve women’s health and ensure that research translates into prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and into policy, according to the fact sheet. Trump said the task force would hold its first meeting on Monday, during what he noted was Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Wiles recently finished treatment for breast cancer, a personal connection Trump referenced during the signing event. Her role as co-chair places the administration’s most senior staffer at the centre of the initiative, signalling that the White House intends the task force to carry real authority across federal agencies.
Why the Order Matters for Women’s Health Research
The NIH has had an Office of Research on Women’s Health since 1990, but advocates have long argued that women’s health research remains underfunded relative to its importance. The new division, operating alongside that office, is designed to give the field a dedicated institutional home with a mandate that stretches from basic science to clinical practice.
By setting a 90-day deadline, the order creates a short timetable for HHS to stand up the division inside an NIH institute or centre. The emphasis on accountability — including requiring funded researchers to consider sex as a biological variable — addresses a persistent criticism that medical research has historically under-enrolled women and overlooked sex differences in disease and treatment response.
The administration framed the initiative as championed by the First Lady, with the HHS announcement crediting Melania Trump’s leadership and support. Whether the division delivers measurable changes in research funding and clinical outcomes will depend on how HHS implements the order in the coming months, but Monday’s signing marks the most significant structural step for federal women’s health research in more than three decades.