The MESSAGE Project
Policy • Training • Thought leadership • Research
The MESSAGE (Medical Science Sex and Gender Equity) project aims to improve the integration of sex and gender across data collection, analysis and reporting in health research.
Through policy co-design, training provision, thought leadership and original research, we lead on catalysing impactful and sustainable change across the sector.
A new standard for medical research
The MESSAGE project convened over 50 stakeholders to co-design the UK’s first sex and gender Policy Framework for research funders, which has been adopted by the NIHR, Wellcome and the British Heart Foundation. Our co-designed Implementation Toolkit for funders has shaped processes among a number of the UK’s medical research charities.
How are we working to address health inequity?
Policy co-design
MESSAGE uses participatory co-design methods to deliver and advance health equity policies across the sector. Through expert delivery of Policy Labs and co-creative workshops, we guide stakeholders to design and plan for robust implementation of landmark policies that advance the rigour, impact and equity of health research.
Training
MESSAGE resources can support researchers to integrate sex and gender into their work. Our introductory e-learning module outlines the key things to consider when designing a study. Our comprehensive short course, delivered in partnership with Imperial College London, offers a holistic overview of how sex and gender impact health and provides the knowledge and skills to ensure that your research meets new funder standards.
Thought leadership
MESSAGE is at the forefront of championing sex and gender equity in medical research around the world through speaking opportunities, written articles and wider engagement with stakeholders.
Why is it important to account
for sex and gender?
Sex and gender characteristics have a fundamental effect on health and illness, influencing the diseases and symptoms a person develops, their experience of that disease, treatments available to them and possible side effects, and their overall outcomes. Currently, biomedical, health and care research does not adequately account for, and therefore understand, relevant sex and gender differences in disease.
There are number of reasons why there is critical need to understand these differences in research:
How can this website help you?
Funders & Regulators
The MESSAGE Policy Framework and Implementation Toolkit have been co-designed by the medical research sector to be adopted by funders and regulators. They have been specifically designed to be usable by organisations of different sizes and working across a range of disease areas, so whilst the framework is considered the gold standard sex and gender policy, it can be adapted to fit the needs of your organisation. Implementation of sex and gender policies is essential to improve scientific rigour and reliability.
Researchers
Many funders now have sex and gender policies which require researchers to explain in funding applications how your proposed research design accounts for sex and gender dimensions. This applies to both pre-clinical and clinical studies across the research cycle, including initial study design, recruitment/procurement of participants, data analysis and reporting of findings.
This may involve learning new skills and familiarising yourself with new research literature. We have resources to support you during this change, including an e-learning module, a library of best practice and a comprehensive short course created in collaboration with Imperial College London. You may also wish to take a look at the MESSAGE Policy Framework which sets out the details of new funder policy expectations.
Patients
The aim of the MESSAGE project is to improve the health outcomes of all people. By ensuring that researchers account for sex and gender dimensions, the MESSAGE Policy Framework will increase scientific understanding of how health conditions and treatments affect different populations based on their different biological and/or social characteristics. Strengthening the evidence base in this way will ensure that the care patients receive is more personalised and effective.
This website highlights several case studies of how poor accounting of sex and gender leads to worse health outcomes for all people, but particularly for cis women and sex- and gender-diverse people.
Publishers
Academic publishers play a crucial role in ensuring that researchers report their findings in a way that adequately accounts for sex and gender. This includes fostering transparency in reporting of sex and/or gender distributions of study samples and ensuring data is sex- and/or gender-disaggregated.
The introduction of sex and gender policies by funders and regulators will improve how researchers account for these dimensions in their work. You can help motivate researchers to report sex- and gender-specific findings, both through adoption of policy requirements about sex and gender reporting and through incentives such as focused special editions.
The MESSAGE Policy Framework sets out the expectations that researchers will be expected to meet to receive research funding. You may wish to think about how publisher policies can reflect these stipulations to ensure that there is support and accountability for researchers across the research pipeline.
Training
Learn how to integrate sex and gender into biomedical and health research to improve outcomes and equity.
