There are known sex and gender differences in the susceptibility, severity, and symptom expression of diseases, as well as differences in response to treatment, that are modulated by the host microbiome. Sex differences have been reported in the microbiome even prior to puberty, and it has been shown that microbiome-host interactions may differ between males and females.

IMPACTT recognizes that sex and gender are important factors in biomedical research that must be considered when enabling functional studies to determine causal links between the microbiome and human health and disease. When performing gnotobiotic animal studies to determine mechanism, both male and female animals should be studies when possible, and all data should be analyzed for potential differences between sexes.

The aim of this platform is to provide guidance and models for microbiome researchers, so that sex and gender are taken into account at the experimental design stage.