Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health in Pittsburgh

PROJECT SUMMARY In this renewal application, we describe an enhanced educational framework for the training, nurturing, and support of talented University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) faculty scholars poised to embark on research careers in women’s health across the lifespan. We have built our program on an unparalleled foundation in reproductive sciences and women’s health research led by Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI). Located at the center of Pitt’s campus, MWRI is immediately adjacent to Magee-Womens Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), one of the nation’s most robust integrated healthcare systems. Our 71 primary MWRI researchers are fully engaged in basic, translational, clinical, health services, and community- oriented research, supported by Pitt’s six Health Sciences and Engineering Schools. With MWRI as the programmatic hub of BIRCWH@Pitt, we have markedly strengthened our women’s health network and created new and exciting investigative nodes within Pitt’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI). We embarked on new initiatives to support and enhance training on social and moral determinants of health in diverse populations, developed new educational opportunities, strengthened inclusive research within CTSI, with a vanguard emphasis on women’s health across the lifespan. We have deepened our training in the incorporation of sex as a biological variable and expanded our special enrichment tools, designed to spark each scholar’s imagination in new inquires and career paths. We have developed innovative tools that better connect the promise of scientific discoveries with people and communities. Our novel model of community partnership brings researchers and community members together as allies in the scientific pursuit. We have taken our engagement of underrepresented minorities to a higher level, at both the trainee and Advisory Committee level. Together, our innovative platforms enable us to focus on our long-term objectives of education, intellectual stimulation, hands-on training, intense career development toward academic independence, promotion of new synergies, and a full realization of collaborative, dynamic, and meaningful engagement. To accommodate an expected heterogeneity in scholars’ academic backgrounds and career goals, we have crafted individually tailored development plans of 2–5 years, adjusted to accommodate the expertise and training of the anticipated five or six scholars. A team of mentors with varied yet complementary skills is fitted to support each scholar. Resources garnered through our program are shared with other trainees at MWRI, across Pitt’s Health Sciences Schools, and at the Latinx-abundant Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico. Together, BIRCWH@Pitt emphasizes imaginative, inclusive thinking, cross-fertilization, and collaboration that bridges basic and clinical sciences and serves to propel our scholars to successful careers in impactful women’s health research.