About OSSD
The Organization for the Study of Sex Differences (OSSD) is a non-profit, scientific membership society. Members include basic and clinical scientists from various disciplines who share an interest in exploring sex/gender differences in all areas of biological, medical, and behavioral science.
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The OSSD was established in 2006, in partnership with the Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR), and through the efforts and inspiration of members of the Isis Fund Network on Sex, Gender, Drugs and the Brain. The overall mission of OSSD is to enhance the knowledge of sex/gender differences by facilitating interdisciplinary communication and collaboration among scientists and clinicians of diverse backgrounds.
Founding member Art Arnold, Ph.D., professor and chair, Department of Physiological Science, UCLA, describes it this way:
"OSSD differs from other scientific societies in several ways:
• The Organization will consider sex differences from a broad biological perspective, but with an eye to improving medicine. It is rare for a society to have such breadth of vision, combining basic biology of all animals with medicine. This breadth will lead to new insights about basic biology coming from the fields of medicine, and insights from animals to understand human disease and treatment.
• The Organization will consider and compare sex differences in a wide variety of tissues. For example, sex differences in meiosis, gonad development, brain, kidney, metabolism, bone, immune function, etc.
• The Organization will center on sex differences, whereas this is a subtopic in other societies.
• The Organization will strive to understand the biological (and environmental) origins of sex differences, including genetic and hormonal. The Society will foster the identification of phenotypes (traits) that are different in males and females, and the causes of these sex differences. The Society will foster the understanding of sex differences in disease, and sex-specific treatments that alleviate disease."
Wolfgang Sadée, Dr.rer.nat, director, Program in Pharmacogenomics, Ohio State University, comments:
"Sexual dimorphism is a hallmark of a majority of organisms, resulting in different biology, physiology, and behavior between sexes. Pervasive sex differences in human disease, and in response to therapy, are compelling but have been neglected by the scientific community. Yet, the study of sex differences promises not only to optimize therapies but also understand fundamental principles of main diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mental illness. OSSD provides a premiere exchange forum for scientists in this emerging area, building on a strong history of scientific meetings, a newly founded journal, and the support of the well established Society for Women's Health Research in Washington DC."
