Duke University, a research intensive institution, and North Carolina Central University (NCCU), a historically black institution, have united to provide career development of junior faculty with the goal to develop independent investigators who will benefit the health of women and advance our knowledge of sex/gender influences on health through interdisciplinary research. The Duke/NCCU BIRCWH is a strong, vibrant program that continues to have the leadership and institutional commitment for continued success. We request competitive renewal of our BIRCWH program, which has three major goals: 1) To develop highly skilled, innovative junior researchers investigating women's health and sex/gender elements of health and disease across a woman's lifespan through the use of interdisciplinary approaches; 2) To foster diversity in women's health and health disparities research by identifying and recruiting scholars from diverse backgrounds and by providing individualized mentoring and career development support in an environment of team science; 3) To encourage interdisciplinary research on all aspects of women's health by emphasizing the merits of all scientific categories and methods. Our program is built around three pillars: interdisciplinary research, structured mentoring, and individualized career development. The partnership between Duke and NCCU strengthens our goal of training minority scholars and focus on health care disparity. During our past funding periods, we have supported 21 BIRCWH Scholars, including 4 underrepresented minorities. Scholars and their expert interdisciplinary mentoring teams are making strong contributions to women's health research with particular focus on a) obesity, nutrition and cardiovascular health; b) pregnancy-related conditions, c) health services research, and d) breast and gynecological cancers. At any one time, we plan to support three junior faculty members (with one minority or NCCU scholar) from basic or clinical science backgrounds. Scholars choose a BIRCWH mentor from a core group of nationally known senior investigators from Duke and NCCU. Additional mentors are chosen to maximize interdisciplinary opportunities and collaborations. The career development program spans two to five years depending on the Scholar's educational needs and consists of intense hands-on research, mentoring, seminars, training in responsible conduct of research and didactic course work. At the completion of the program the Scholars are expected to have published their results in peer-reviewed journals and obtained funding as a Principal Investigator. Scholars' progress is monitored by the Leadership Team and the Internal Advisory Board (IAB). The program is evaluated and advised by the IAB and an External Advisory Board. We have also added formal external evaluations by an independent evaluator in the Duke Social Science Research Institute. Thus, the Duke/NCCU BIRCWH program will increase the availability of a diverse pool of highly trained women's health researchers to address the Nation's biomedical, behavioral, and clinical needs.
Duke University, a major research university, and North Carolina Central University, a historic black university, both in Durham, NC partner for this career development program in women's health research. Three selected junior faculty members from these two institutions will receive formal mentoring and training to conduct interdisciplinary research relevant to women's health across the lifespan emphasizing health disparities and the effects that sex and gender have on health. These well trained scientists will be the future champions for improving women's health nationwide and globally.
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