Women’s heart health is receiving new research attention through the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s Female Heart programme. The programme aims to address important gaps in how researchers and doctors understand cardiovascular disease in women.
The initiative includes two international research calls and four research projects supported in Denmark. The work focuses on improving knowledge about how heart disease affects women and how doctors can detect and treat it more effectively.
Quick Fact
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| What happened? | New research funding is targeting women’s cardiovascular health. |
| Programme | Female Heart |
| Organisation | Novo Nordisk Foundation |
| Research focus | Sex related differences in cardiovascular disease. |
| Grant calls opened | 13 January 2026 |
| Grant calls closed | 19 March 2026 |
| Funding per project | DKK 10 million to DKK 15 million |
| Project duration | Three to five years |
| Additional projects | Four research projects supported in Denmark |
| Why it matters | The research aims to improve understanding, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women. |
The Female Heart programme focuses on gaps in cardiovascular research involving women. The Novo Nordisk Foundation says these gaps can affect diagnosis, treatment and health outcomes.
The programme includes two major research calls. One focuses on the biological causes behind differences in cardiovascular disease between women and men.
The second focuses on clinical research. It aims to improve understanding of how these differences affect diagnosis, treatment and patient outcomes.
The mechanistic research call supports projects led from Nordic countries. Researchers can work with partners from Europe. The clinical research call also requires Nordic leadership, but its co applicants can come from anywhere in the world.
Four Research Projects in Denmark
The Foundation has also partnered with the Danish Heart Foundation to support four research projects in Denmark.
The projects will examine several areas of women’s cardiovascular health. These include genetics, small vessel disease and heart failure.
Other projects will study risk models for aortic aneurysms, hormone therapies linked to preeclampsia, and whether doctors should use different treatment thresholds for women with heart disease.
Why Women’s Heart Disease Needs More Research
Cardiovascular disease affects women in different ways. Some conditions also occur more often in women or can present differently.
The clinical research programme lists conditions such as spontaneous coronary artery dissection, MINOCA, INOCA, Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction as areas that researchers may study.
Researchers can also examine pregnancy related cardiovascular complications and changes linked to female hormones.
Funding Could Support International Collaboration
The two research calls offer grants of up to DKK 15 million for projects lasting between three and five years.
The Foundation has allocated up to DKK 75 million for each of the two grant areas. Researchers will go through a two stage application process. External experts will review full applications in the second stage.
The Foundation expects to announce the results in mid November 2026.
Future Plans for Women’s Heart Health
The Female Heart programme is part of the Novo Nordisk Foundation’s wider work on non communicable diseases.
The current research calls focus on generating evidence about sex related differences in cardiovascular disease.
The new funding puts women’s cardiovascular health at the centre of a growing research effort. Researchers will study biological differences, clinical care and several conditions that can affect women’s hearts.
The long term goal is to build stronger evidence that can support better prevention, diagnosis and treatment for women.
