The Yale Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) Career Development Center was established 15 years ago. Its objective is to provide advanced training of Ob/Gyns in basic, translational and/or clinical research in Women's Reproductive Health, under the guidance of skilled scientific Mentors, in order to produce the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders in the field. It has been extremely successful. So far, the Yale Program has mentored 10 Scholars, of which 8 have graduated, and 2 are currently in-training. All our original graduated Scholars are Division Directors in Ob/Gyn Departments at major US academic institutions, and have been successful in obtaining NIH research support. Our more recently graduated Scholars have become/are becoming leaders in their respective fields and also include Division and Fellowship Directors. All hold faculty positions in Ob/Gyn Departments at major US academic institutions and have obtained research funding. This proposal is a continuation of this well-established, rigorous, step-wise research-training program. The Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) and Research Director (RD) monitor the Scholars? academic progress toward independence. We identify prospective scholars from our residents and subspecialty fellows, as well as by national networking; advertisements in professional journals; letters to Program Directors and Chairs; and postings at national meetings. Our Advisory Committee chooses Scholars exhibiting exceptional promise and commitment to a career in Women's Reproductive Health Research. The PD/PI, RD, and Advisory Committee are directly involved in the training, evaluation and academic development of each Scholar, and monitor their progress toward research independence. Mentors are experienced in career development and are outstanding scientists in fields related to Women's Reproductive Health. Core training laboratories in Molecular and Cellular Biology along with a didactic program are required for all Scholars, including instruction in the responsible conduct of research. There are two Scholars in the Department at any given time, with each assigned laboratory space with access to shared teaching and training cores. In order to pursue career development, at least 75% of the Scholars' time is devoted to research, plus support for up to 5 years to underwrite costs while they obtain preliminary data for grant applications. During this time, our goal is for Scholars to obtain competitive NIH and other funding sufficient to suppport an independent academic career. Scholars enter the Department as Assistant Professors, with appropriate office space and support staff. Clinical duties and responsibilities relate directly to their research interests. The Yale WRHR program is extremely popular and competitive allowing us to rapidly fill open positions with outstanding candidates. The overall impact and effectiveness of the program and its quality are evidenced by the success of all of our scholars. The Yale WRHR Center aims to foster Scholars' development into independent investigators. Yale seeks to retain, as faculty, Scholars who successfully complete this individualized training program and who have made significant progress toward independent funding.
The Yale Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) Career Development Center provides advanced training of obstetricians and gynecologists in basic, translational, and/or clinical science in order to produce the next generation of highly skilled physician-scientists and leaders to contribute to the improvement of women's reproductive health.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 38 publications
