The Women's Health Research Group, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) proposes to establish Maryland's Organized Research Effort in Women's Health (MORE-WH), a program designed to foster interdisciplinary research in women's health among junior faculty Scholars working together with senior faculty mentors to bridge the gap between specialized training and independent research careers. The MORE-WH builds on existing strengths in women's health research at UMB and its institutional research infrastructure that encourages and supports interdisciplinary research and training collaboration among the campus's six professional schools (Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, & Social Work). UMB has a strong internal pool of candidates that will be targeted for recruitment. Recruitment efforts will also target several academic and medical institutions in the Baltimore/DC area with extensive minority and female student and faculty populations. Candidates applying to become MORE-WH Scholars will select an area of research interest from three broad research themes selected for this program: 1) Life Changes in Women's Health; 2) Adverse Conditions and Diseases in Women; and 3) Gender Differences in Pain, and will complete an application that includes a 2-3 page essay summarizing his/her academic and research experience, professional goals, and why he/she would be a good candidate for the MORE-WH program. The Internal and External Advisory Committees will select the Scholars based on objective criteria that take into account differences in candidate training and past research experience. Once selected, Scholars will be matched with an interdisciplinary mentor team headed by a senior faculty member who has significant research strength in the selected research area and who has substantial experience in providing research training and mentoring to students and fellows. The mentor teams, in conjunction with the Internal Advisory Committee, will develop a personalized career-training plan for each Scholar that includes didactic coursework and performance of mentored research, and that is built around milestones leading toward career independence. A Research Resource Laboratory will provide biostatistical, bioinformatic; grant writing, and manuscript preparation support to the Scholars. Scholars will be formally evaluated twice a year by the Advisory Committees and informally by his/her mentor team monthly. The MORE-WH program will be evaluated annually by the Advisory Committees and modified as needed.
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