This is a competing renewal application for the Tulane BIRCWH Program, which has successfully trained a racially/ethnically and professionally diverse group of interdisciplinary researchers in women's health and in- creased awareness of women's health research at Tulane over the last 4 years. We propose now to build on our prior success and expand and reinforce the BIRCWH program base. The long-term goal is to increase the number and diversity of highly trained culturally competent, independent, interdisciplinary investigators in Women's Health with an emphasis on Sex Differences research in the field of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and related diseases. The program focuses on CVD and related diseases because of the impacts of heart dis- ease on women, the existing knowledge gaps on the sex differences in CVD across the research spectrum, and the strength of this focus at Tulane. Key components of our successful career development plan include 1) didactic courses tailored to specific Scholar needs; 2) individualized career development training; 3) BIRCWH seminar series; 4) Work-in-Progress sessions; 5) required grant writing and project management workshops; 6) mentored interdisciplinary research; 7) responsible conduct in research training; and 8) institu- tional resources. The innovative approach includes tailoring the program to Scholars needs using self-efficacy assessment and career development plans, and using a network mentoring model for each Scholar, including expertise in both basic science and clinical research. Scholars are immediately exposed to research and are guided to establish a scholarly track record early, and gain presentation and organization skills by active partic- ipation in the Health Sciences Research days-Women's Health/Sex Differences Section. New components of the enhanced BIRCWH program include additional faculty participation in new disciplines including BIRCWH alumni, mentor training for Mentors and Scholars, integration of rigor, reproducibility, transparency, and sex as a biologic variable training, strengthened collaboration with Xavier, a historically Black, less-research-intensive institution, and a planned pipeline for Scholars to the Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence. The Schol- ars will learn cutting-edge research methods and skills from Bench (cellular, molecular, and genetics), to Bed- side (clinical research and clinical trials) to Population (epidemiology, prevention, and health services re- search) and conduct their own research projects in established laboratories/research groups in a mentored, interdisciplinary environment that address the most recent ORWH priorities. Scholar's interdisciplinary re- search will focus on sex differences in CVD and related diseases and their risk factors and address overarch- ing themes (lifespan, sex/gender determinants, health disparities, and interdisciplinary research). We propose to train 6 faculty Scholars for a minimum of 2-3 years (3 years minimum for physician-scientists). Ongoing and comprehensive evaluation will guide improvements to the program's demonstrated effectiveness in bridging research training and research independence for junior scientists focused on Sex Differences and CVD.
There is a critical need to determine sex differences in cardiovascular and related diseases across the research spectrum in order to improve health and reduce the fragmentation in women's health care. In order to most effectively tackle the significant problems in women's health, including sex differences, there needs to be a diverse workforce prepared to undertake interdisciplinary, collaborative research. To this end, Tulane BIRCWH program will provide mentored career development for junior faculty to increase the number of highly trained independent investigators engaged in women's health research in the field of cardiovascular and related diseases, with an emphasis on sex differences research across the lifespan.
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