Jill Biden takes charge of new women's initiative with Maria Shriver: First Lady enlists journalist member of the Kennedy family to push for research funding for Alzheimer's, heart disease, menopause and depression

Jill Biden and Maria Shriver joined forces on Monday to launch a new initiative to boost federal research into women's health issues. 

The first lady said it was a conversation earlier this year with Shriver, the former California first lady and a women's health advocate, that 'raised the need for an effort inside and outside government to close the research gaps in women's health that have persisted far too long.' 

'When I brought this issue to my husband, Joe, a few months ago, he listened. And then he took action,' Jill Biden said. 'That is what he does.' 

'Women deserve better, and now we’re going to get,' she noted. 

The two women joined President Joe Biden in the Oval Office when he signed a memorandum to establish the first-ever White House Initiative on Women's Health Research.

They were joined by Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young and White House Gender Policy Council director Jen Klein.

President Biden gave his wife the pen he used to establish the initiative and then gave her a kiss. 

Women make up more than half of the U.S. population but remain understudied and underrepresented in health research.

The new initiative is aimed at improving how the federal government approaches and funds research into the health of women.

Jill Biden has worked on women's health issues since the early 1990s, after several of her friends were diagnosed with breast cancer. 

'If you ask any woman in America about her health care, she probably has a story to tell. You know her. She's a woman who gets debilitating migraines but doesn't know why and can't find treatment options that work for her,' she told reporters on a briefing call on Monday. 

'She's the woman going through menopause, who visits with her doctor and leaves with more questions than answers.'

The first lady specifically pointed out the 'stunning lack of information' about how to manage menopause when it comes to women's health needs.

Shriver, the founder of the Women's Alzheimer's Movement, said women make up two-thirds of those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, and represent more than three-fourths of those who are diagnosed with an auto-immune disease. 

Other statistics noted by officials:

• Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women yet traditional testing used to diagnose a heart attack was developed based on men
• Women suffer from depression and anxiety at twice the levels of men
• Researchers don't know why women who never smoked are twice as likely to develop lung cancer than men who never smoked
• Women of color are two to three times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women
• Millions of other women grapple daily with the side effects of menopause

'The bottom line is that we can´t treat or prevent them from becoming sick if we have not infested in funding the necessary research,' Shriver said on the briefing call with reporters. 'That changes today.'

The White House Gender Policy Council will led the effort along with Jill Biden.

President Biden's memorandum directs members to report back within 45 days with 'concrete recommendations' to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of women's health issues. 

It also asks them to set 'priority areas of focus,' such as research ranging from heart attacks in women to menopause, where additional investments could be 'transformative.'

The president also wants collaboration with the scientific, private sector and philanthropic communities.

Carolyn Mazure will chair the research effort. Mazure joined the first lady's office from the Yale School of Medicine, where she created its Women's Health Research Center.