The Yale WRHR Center was established ten years ago with the objective of training obstetrician/ gynecologists as physician-scientists in women's reproductive science in order to mentor future leaders in this critical field. It has been extremel successful. Currently, the Yale Program has mentored eight Scholars of which six have graduated and two are currently in training. All of the graduated Scholars are pursuing independent academic careers and have been successful in obtaining research funds. Furthermore, the Scholars who have graduated from the Yale program have become or are becoming leaders in their respective fields. Every one of the first group of Scholars, is at the present time in a leadership position (Division Director) in major academic institution in the United States. This proposal is a continuation of this well-established, rigorous, step-wise research-training program. The Principal Investigator/Program Director (PD/PI) and Research Director (RD) will monitor the Scholars' academic progress toward research independence. We identify prospective scholars from our residents, subspecialty fellows, and junior faculty, as well as national networking by the PD/PI and RD and advertisements in professional journals, letters to Program Directors and Chairs and postings at national meetings. Our selection committee chooses WRHR Scholars who exhibit exceptional promise and commitment to a career in women's health research. The PD/PI, RD, and Advisory Committee are directly involved in the training, evaluation and academic development of each WRHR Scholar. Mentors are experienced in career development and are outstanding scientists in fields related to Women's Reproductive Health. Core training in basic lab techniques and molecular biology along with a didactic program are required for all WRHR Scholars and include instruction in the responsible and ethical conduct of research. Each Scholar is assigned departmental laboratory space with access to shared teaching and training cores. In order to pursue career development 75% of Scholars time is devoted to research, plus research support for 2-5 years to underwrite costs while they obtain preliminary data and develop grant applications. Scholars enter the Department of Ob/Gyn as Assistant Professors, with appropriate office and support staff. Clinical duties and responsibilities relate directly to research interests. The Yale WRHR program has proven to be extremely popular allowing us to rapidly fill open positions with excellent candidates. The overall impact and effectiveness of the program and its quality are evidenced by the success of all of our scholars. Yale seeks to retain, as faculty, Scholars who successfully complete the individualized training program at Yale and who have made significant progress toward independent funding.
Yale WRHR Center provides the Scholars with the training required to contribute in an active, productive and significant way to improve women's health by developing new areas of research and new therapeutic approaches to enhance our understanding of the pathophysiology of diseases affecting women's well-being.
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