ORAL PRESENTATIONS

heart and the poorest in male recipients of a female heart, a l though women had more antinuclear and anti-HLA anti- bodies, suggesting a higher level of alloreactivity. It has been discussed that female patients are under-represented in high- ly technical t reatment approaches. We will present gender specific analysis of our 855 patients wi th mechanical circula- tory support (151 women, 704 men). The underlying mecha- nisms of these gender specific phenomena are not yet com- pletely clear. Various studies in our institute, networking with other study groups elsewhere and focusing on genetic, molecular biological and psychosocial factors, will contribute to a better understanding.

F1.06 11:30-12:00, Friday, February 24, 2006 Research as the Portal to Gender-Specific Medicine V i v i a n w . P inn Office of Research on Women's Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA During the past 15 years, the focus of research on women 's hea l th has evolved from ensur ing tha t clinical studies include women to now requiring tha t research define differ- ences between m en and women and tha t sex/gender differ- ences be addressed in the design of biomedical research, including basic biological studies. The science of sex/gender factors in hea l th and disease provides the founda t ion for establishing gender/sex-specific hea l th care delivery for women or men. The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) at the Nat ional Insti tutes of Health (NIH), DHHS has implemented m a n y policies and programs tha t are beg inn ing to yield beneficial results as well as new scientif- ic opportuni t ies for gender-specific informat ion and medi- cine. The NIH policy requiring the inclusion of women and diverse racial/ethnic groups in clinical research as well as analyses of resulting data for validity of differences has been ins t rumenta l in facilitating sex/gender oriented analyses and scientific design. The complexity of the science has led re- cently to interdisciplinary approaches to research on women's hea l th and on sex/gender factors, and to the advancement of careers of young investigators in sex/gender oriented re- search. In addition, the ORWH fully utilizes collaborative efforts wi th other componen t s of the NIH as well as the broader scientific, hea l th care and public advocacy commu- nities to determine scientific priorities and to communica te the valuable in format ion resulting from research studies to hea l th care professionals and the public. Some of the poli- cies and programs tha t have and are cont r ibut ing to the role of research as the matr ix for gender specific medicine will be presented and discussed.

F1.07 12:30-13:00, Friday, February 24, 2006 TIMESOME: The Human Gender Clock-Genes Interactome of Biological Time-Keeping. Toward Mapping and Timing Gender Chrono- Pharmacogenomic Individualized Medicine and Therapy H a i m J. B e n d a y a n Theraclock Genomics International Project, Tel Aviv, Israel Detection of a gender genomic ID-clock informat ion has been a longs tanding unfulfilled dream in medicine. As we coined it TIMESOME, it represents the internal t iming machine

tha t sustains interactome rhy thms around 24 hours in the absence of external cues in man and women. It consists of an array of genes and the prote in products they encode, which regulate various physiological processes th roughou t the body dur ing the daily dark/l ight cycle of rest/activity. The h u m a n t imesome is operated by an evolutionary molec- ular framework clock oscillator composed of t ranscr ipt ion/ post- translat ion-based auto-regulatory feedback loops of the circadian genes in the central pacemaker (suprachiasmatic nucleus of the brain), as well as in most peripheral tissues (skin, liver, gastro-intestinal tract, hematopoei t ic system and bone marrow, retina, lung, skin, kidney, and bone cells). This regulates neuro-endocr ine funct ions in which clock gene products negatively regulate their own expres- sion. Deciphering gender pharmaco-genomic clocks by clin- ical funct ional genomics and proteomics: We took a system- biological approach based on genomic, molecular, and cell biological techniques applied to h u m a n circadian rhythms. We created a "gender ID molecular t imetable" composed of genomic guardian "t ime-indicat ing genes," whose gender gene expression levels can represent the internal genomic ID-Clock. This b io technology approach can translate func- t ional genomics into gender t ime-mapped pharmacoge- nomic personalized medicine, new therapeutic targets and drag discovery. Gender maps of t ime-keeping pat terns may serve for t iming, screening, diagnosis, and an improved quali ty of life, and to reveal the unders tand ing of mecha- nisms under ly ing t ime-disrupt ion in the etiology of various diseases (cancer, cardiovascular, neuro-psychiatric, gyneco- obstetrics, pediatrics, aging, and chronic illnesses) in men and women along their lifespan.

F1.08 14:00-14:30, Friday, February 24, 2006 Gender Disparities in Health Services Provided for Myocardial Infarction and Congestive Heart Failure Rosaly Correa-de-Araujo Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD, USA Background: Myocardial infarction (MI) killed 179,514 peo- ple (52.3% men; 47.7% women) in 2002. Women wi th MI have higher prevalence of risk factors (diabetes, hyperten- sion). End-stage renal disease (ESRD) closely related to hy- pertension, morbidi ty rates vary among age, race/ethnicity, and gender. Nearly 5 mil l ion people affected by congestive heart failure (CHF), almost half be ing women. Cigarette smoking, hypertension, and diabetes are po ten t risk factors for CHF in women. Methods: Gender differences across white, black, and Hispanic elderly in the quality of care pro- vided for MI and CHF wi th diabetes or hypertension/ESRD were investigated. Data Source: Nat ional Acute Myocardial Infarct ion Project, U.S. Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services. Quality measures: Aspirin and /or beta blocker use wi th in 24 hours of admission and/or prescribed at dis- charge; ACE inhibi tor prescribed at discharge for left ven- tricular systolic dysfunction; smoking cessation counsel ing dur ing hospitalization. Results: Gender comparisons for the MI and MI-diabetes show white women less likely to re- ceive aspirin and beta-blockers. No gender differences were found among blacks and Hispanics, bu t they are less likely to receive aspirin and/or beta-blockers. Differences persist for Hispanic women and men w h e n hypertension/ESRD or dia-

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