Advancing Health for All: Bridging Gender Gaps in Migraine and Anxiety Research

International Women's Day serves as an important reminder that we need to continue our efforts towards health for all, independently of gender and sex. Health research has historically often excluded women, transgender people, and people of other genders, resulting in gaps in our understanding of how people of different genders experience disease and respond to treatment.

CIHR-IG are pleased to share the research goals of MSc student Simran Sandhu, under the direction of Dr. Meghan Chenoweth at the University of Toronto, to investigate how genetics and sex influence the prevalence and of anxiety and migraines.

The power of recognizing differences to improve health for all

Biological differences such as genetic factors and hormonal levels can influence the likelihood of developing certain conditions, emphasizing the need to include women and men when a disease or condition occurs in both sexes. (What is gender? What is sex?)

Why does your research have a focus on women?

"Although there are sex differences in how genes are expressed, and in the risk for many diseases, the vast majority of genetic studies have controlled for sex, meaning many of these important differences have historically been missed. Our study is specifically designed to test whether there are sex differences in terms of which genes might be important in migraine and anxiety. This approach is crucial as women are often underrepresented in studies or analyzed with men." 

Migraine and anxiety

What questions are you addressing in your work?

Individuals with a family history of anxiety or migraines have a higher risk of experiencing these conditions. Simran wrote that "anxiety and migraine are heritable, meaning that some of the risk for developing these conditions is passed on from parents to their biological children genetically." Part of their focus will look at how genetics may influence anxiety and migraine in women, and how this may differ between women and men.

Studies have shown that migraines and anxiety often occur together and happens more often in women^{Footnote 1Footnote 2}. Dr. Chenoweth and Ms. Sandhu will determine if having migraines or anxiety increases the risk for developing the other, or if there are shared risk factors causing them to co-occur. They will also be investigating if there are biological mechanisms explaining why the conditions are more common in women.

What inspired you to pursue research in this area?

"In the words of Michelle Obama, 'Communities and countries and ultimately the world are only as strong as the health of their women.' However, most health research has focused on men, with little consideration for important differences that may exist between men and women. This is especially problematic, as many conditions affect women more than men. Two prime examples are migraine and anxiety, which are relatively understudied and often occur together."

IG celebrates research that strives towards improving health for all through research. Ms. Sandhu and Dr. Chenoweth's upcoming research in the understanding of risk factors for anxiety and migraines demonstrates a positive direction in addressing the importance of looking at data for women. It will be exciting to see what they discover.

Date modified:

2025-03-07