GenderSci Lab finds more than biology influences COVID risk
More men than women are dying of COVID-19. Some scientists think sex-specific hormones explain this difference, but researchers at Harvard say we need to look closely at how biology and social context affect health in people of all genders. To do that, the Harvard GenderSci Lab created the US Gender/Sex COVID-19 Data Tracker. Sarah Richardson, founder and director of the GenderSci Lab and a professor in the departments of History of Science and of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, saw an opportunity for the researchers to apply their interdisciplinary approach and feminist lens to the urgent, global crisis. In mid-March, eight of the 15 researchers affiliated with the lab started collecting public health data on COVID-19 cases and mortality from 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, tracking disparities in gender/sex — a term that reflects the interactions of social structures, biological markers, and behavior, and...