What Makes Us Unique

 The neuroimmune and vascular axes are major lines of communication across the brain and body. ICON-✘ is focusing on these pathways through the lens of hormones, genes, and metabolism to identify the causes of sex differences that cross disorders of the brain and body. We take a lifespan approach from prenatal development to aging to target these causes early in a sex-dependent way to attenuate disability and/or prevent illness later in life. We believe causes of sex differences are shared across a number of chronic diseases that contribute to understanding substantial comorbidities and side effects of pharmacology that usually target one organ system.

 What makes us unique is our focus on translation to develop sex-selective diagnostic tools and therapeutics, comorbidities, and a lifespan approach to early intervention and prevention. 

•   We discovered shared causes of disorders that cross organs and tissues that differ for men and women, and we are leveraging these discoveries into novel sex-selective diagnostic tools and therapeutics.

• We demonstrated the origins of some of these shared causes of sex differences begin in fetal development.

• We are reconceptualizing sex differences in diseases as originating from the same roots early in development that then emerge across lifespan contributing to understanding comorbidities and side effects from pharmacology that targets one organ system at a time.

• Given the developmental origins of these diseases, we can identify risks and resilience to target for early intervention and prevention by sex.

• We comprehensively address these challenges at the basic, clinical, and population levels globally.

• We incorporate simultaneously sex as a biological variable and gender as a social determinant of health to understand and address these conditions as they affect women and men globally.

Our Goals

1

Impact the culture in medicine by incorporating knowledge of sex and gender differences into understanding the nature of diseases and developing therapeutic strategies

Impact the culture in medicine by incorporating knowledge of sex and gender differences into understanding the nature of diseases and developing therapeutic strategies

Develop sex-selective diagnostic tools and treatments to bring to the bedside and impact clinical care at national and global levels

2

Develop sex-selective and sex-specific diagnostic tools and treatments to bring to the bedside and impact clinical care at national and global levels

3

Devise unique strategies to maintain healthy aging across the lifespan using sex and gender differences lenses

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Devise unique strategies to maintain healthy aging across the lifespan using sex and gender differences lenses

Develop global strategies to lower morbidity and mortality using a sex-selective lens across the lifespan to prevent disease

4

Develop global strategies to lower morbidity and mortality using a sex-selective lens across the lifespan to prevent disease

Definitions of Sex and Gender

SEX:

The biological attributes of females and males, e.g. sex chromosomes, gonadal hormones

Gender:

Socially constructed roles, behaviors, and identities in a spectrum, including femininity and masculinity