Who Can Apply:
- About 1 in 20 people with a menstrual cycle live with Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) or Premenstrual Exacerbation (PME). That’s an estimated 119 million people worldwide. The average time to diagnosis: 12 years. Up to 34% of those with PMDD have attempted suicide.
- PMDD is a cyclical mood disorder, not simply PMS or a hormone imbalance, in which the brain responds severely to the normal hormonal shifts of the menstrual cycle. PME involves the premenstrual worsening of existing conditions like depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, ADHD, and anxiety. Both can be devastating. PMDD only received formal diagnostic recognition in 2013, and PME still hasn’t. Neither is yet part of routine healthcare. These are not rare conditions. They rank among the most underdiagnosed, undertreated, and underfunded conditions in women’s health, and they remain largely absent from standard clinical training and diagnostic practice.
- We believe PMDD and PME must become a standard part of how clinicians are trained, how patients are screened, and how the medical community responds. This scholarship is inspired by over a decade of direct experience searching for solutions and regularly educating the very doctors who were sought out to help. We’re investing in students who will help make that experience unnecessary through research, clinical practice, education, or product innovation. If your work is meaningfully connected to PMDD or PME, we encourage you to apply.
Submission: To apply, tell us what inspired you to pursue a career in women’s health and how you hope to make a difference through your work. Additionally, please feel free to upload an example of a project, product, work, or research you’ve executed in women’s health and/or links to your research, website or other supplemental information/portfolio.
Deadline: September 28, 2026
Amount: $2,200
Learn More: https://bold.org/scholarships/womens-health-research-innovation-scholarship/
