The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has published the top 10 women’s health research priorities in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women’s Health. The priorities were developed through a national engagement project involving more than 2,000 women, healthcare professionals, and members of the public.
The top priorities include improving diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis, understanding the cognitive impacts of menopause, and closing the gender gap in how drugs are tested and prescribed. Women make up 51% of the UK population.
“To close the women’s health gap, we need to change how we do research – not just fund more of it,” said Professor Asma Khalil, Vice President for Academia and Strategy at the RCOG. “We want to work closely with funders and researchers to use these priorities to shape future research agendas that truly reflect women’s needs. It’s vital that we look beyond short-term outcomes and understand women’s health across the whole life course.”
The priorities reflect questions that matter most to women and highlight the need for including women in clinical trials, exploring hormonal changes across life stages, and developing new treatments for conditions including endometriosis, breast and gynaecological cancers, and maternal mental health.
“This project was done in collaboration with women and people with lived experience,” said Freya El-Baz, Co-Vice Chair of the RCOG Women’s Network and member of the project steering group. “The next step is to ensure this research leads to action – directing resources and funding to the areas where they are needed most to improve outcomes for women’s health.”
The top 10 research priorities are:
- Most effective current and emerging treatments for gynaecological and breast cancers, and how to personalize treatment to maximize benefit and minimize side effects
- Why drug trials are not adequately applied to both sexes, and the consequences for women’s health
- Most effective current and emerging treatments for endometriosis, and whether a cure is possible
- Reasons for widespread dissatisfaction with obstetric and gynaecological care, and how professional bodies can address this
- How to improve endometriosis diagnosis, including non-invasive screening tools
- How to diagnose, manage, and prevent cognitive impacts of perimenopause and menopause
- Long-term impacts of giving birth, and how to improve postnatal health outcomes including pelvic pain, incontinence, and sexual dysfunction
- Underlying causes, treatments, and preventive measures for maternal mental health conditions including postpartum depression and anxiety
- How hormonal cycles affect drug metabolism, and how this should be integrated into drug trial design
- Relationship between hormonal fluctuations and mental health across the reproductive lifespan, from PMS and PMDD to menopause
The RCOG is calling on funders and researchers to use these priorities to shape future research agendas. The college urged the UK Government to embed these priorities as it prepares to refresh the Women’s Health Strategy in 2026.
A full report on the Women’s Health Research Project will be published on the RCOG website in December 2025.
