Women Invited to Join New Health Registry to Advance Research

Women Invited to Join New Health Registry to Advance Research

Women throughout the state are invited to help advance research in women’s health by joining the new Illinois Women’s Health Registry. The registry, created by the Institute for Women’s Health Research at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, was developed to encourage researchers to focus on women’s health topics and to give women living in Illinois the chance to be part of university-sponsored research studies and clinical trials.

The registry will link women interested in participating in innovative research projects with scientists and physicians who are seeking women for their studies. The information collected also will help researchers analyze health status and trends in Illinois women.

“The registry will help researchers include more women in their research so we can better understand how and why illnesses develop in women, how to best treat disease in women and what women can do to prevent illness,” said Teresa Woodruff, executive director of the Institute for Women’s Health Research. “This is a chance for women throughout Illinois to help us accelerate what we know about women’s health.”

“Sex and gender play a significant role in health beyond the reproductive system,” added Woodruff, who also is the Thomas J.

Watkins Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Feinberg School. “Scientists now realize that sex differences influence virtually every body system.”

Women who join the registry will be asked to complete a detailed health history questionnaire. All the information will be self reported and no medical records will be requested. The registry will contain only information the woman supplies and the data will be stored in a secure computer server.

All female Illinois residents 18 years and older, regardless of health status, are eligible to participate in the free registry. The health questionnaire is available in a paper version or electronic version. For more information about the Illinois Women’s Health Registry at Northwestern University, visit http://whr.northwestern.edu or call 312-503-1308 or 800- 984-4947 for a brochure.