Trump signs order calling for NIH Women’s Health Division and White House task force

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Oct. 19, 2026 calling for a Women’s Health Division at the National Institutes of Health and a White House Women’s Health Task Force. The signing does not mean the division is already running. The NIH director wrote later that day, “Under the order, we look forward to establishing a new Women’s Health Division.”

The director said the proposed division would work with NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health to coordinate research on women’s health conditions, including replication studies, address gaps in scientific understanding and help turn discoveries into better health outcomes. that the division would not replace the existing office and would have a broader mandate beyond research.