In 2006, the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health identified research on diseases and conditions that affect women and the education and career development of women in science as major research priorities for women's health. During the last three years, the Vanderbilt BIRCWH has supported the career development of Scholars engaged in basic, translational and epidemiological Women's Health Research in collaboration with investigators from among 15 departments or centers within Vanderbilt, Meharry Medical College and other institutions. At the same time, the BIRCWH has served as a catalyst for recruitment and growth in the area of Women's Health Research at Vanderbilt and for collaboration between Vanderbilt and Meharry Medical College. During the next five years, the BIRCWH program will focus on developing outstanding investigators in 6 major areas of Women's Health Research: Cardiovascular Risk and Gender, Clinical Pharmacology and Vaccine Development, Disparities and Health Outcomes, Endometrial Biology and Reproductive Toxicology, Neoplasia and Cancer, Neuroscience and Behavioral Health. The goals of the BIRCWH are to: a) Provide the infrastructure and resources necessary to identify, recruit, and educate junior faculty members who are interested in and committed to research careers in women's health, b) Provide oversight of mentorship, protected time for research, and career development resources that will allow junior faculty members to succeed and to achieve research independence, c) Capitalize on the environment of interdisciplinary research in women's health that has been developed through the first years of the BIRCWH to increase the impact of research at Vanderbilt and Meharry on the health of women, d) Leverage the shared resources of the Vanderbilt-Meharry Alliance to increase the number of underrepresented minorities serving as Scholars and Mentors and leaders in Women's Health Research. To meet these objectives, we propose a strategy that incorporates 1) a mentored research apprenticeship, 2) participation in a core monthly BIRCWH Seminar Series on Women's Health Research, 3) completion of didactic coursework as appropriate for the individual, and 4) participation in formal career development and mentoring activities. The success of each element will be evaluated using structured tools and benchmarks. We strive to create a new generation of creative, successful leaders in scientific areas that will improve the health of women.
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