Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to ensure that female patients are included in (a) medical research and (b) clinical trials for (i) dementia and (ii) early on-set Alzheimer's disease funded by her Department.

UKRI, through the Medical Research Council is working to ensure that female patients are included in medical research and clinical trials for all conditions, including by instituting a requirement for both sexes to be included in research studies by default. MRC's embedding diversity in research design policy requires researchers to consider characteristics such as gender, age and ethnicity - as well as sex - in their projects. MRC is working with the MESSAGE (Medical Science Sex and Gender Equality) initiative to co-design a sex and gender policy framework which could guide organisations throughout the health and biomedical research sector.