The Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) program, a career development program for obstetrician gynecologists, was established at the University of Washington (UW) in 1998.
The aim of the UW WRHR program is to foster the education, training and scientific development of obstetrician gynecologists who demonstrate clear research potential and who are committed to a career in academic medicine. Our long-term goal is to improve women's health. The program has successfully trained 10 individuals, with 1 scholar currently in training. This proposal describes a plan for continuation f the UW WRHR program. The goal remains a commitment to bridge the gap between clinical and research training to enable young physicians to establish research careers tailored to their specific interests and to become independent scientific investigators. Proposed training is a multidisciplinary mentored experience for 2-5 years. During this period, a scholar devotes at least 75% of his/her time to research. The program aims to recruit individuals from other institutions and to recruit individuals from under-represented backgrounds. The UW WRHR is unique in encouraging cross disciplinary research and is designed to provide training environments that create the best opportunities for scholars. We have a distinguished group of 18 mentors with expertise in a diverse spectrum of specialties ranging from genomics to global health, with investigation in obstetrics, gynecology, and women's reproductive health research as the core activity. Particular strengths include: reproductive immunology, infectious disease, neuroendocrinology, medical genetics, global health, prematurity, cancer epidemiology, and maternal-fetal drug pharmacokinetics. We believe that through partnerships with outstanding scientists in disciplines that lie outside of the traditional boundaries of obstetrics and gynecology, our scholars have the greatest opportunity to achieve their scientific potential, build unique and successful interdisciplinary careers, and advance the cause to improve the health and well-being of women and their families. The Obstetrics & Gynecology Department and the School of Medicine at UW are prepared to make major commitments to support continuation of the UW WRHR program in order to positively impact the health of women around the globe.
The UW Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) Program plans to promote diversity in the approach and originality in the execution of our career development program. The novel multidisciplinary methods proposed to train junior obstetrician gynecologist scientists are most apt to be successful in answering questions of greatest merit, with maximum possibility of impacting the health of all women.
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