UNC Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Significant gaps remain in the study of women’s health and understanding the effect of biological sex differences on disease risk, pathophysiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. From birth through childhood and adolescence into reproductive age and beyond, women encounter barriers affecting their opportunities, outcomes, and quality of life. The mission of the University of North Carolina Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Program is to mentor and train early career investigators to become independent interdisciplinary translational science researchers who study high priority areas in women’s health, explore sex influences on health and disease and also incorporate research strategies to promote health across the lifespan. Our priorities are to address crosscutting interdisciplinary themes from the 2024-28 NIH-wide Strategic Plan for Women’s Health Research and continuous evaluation of scholar progress and program effectiveness. We propose the following aims: (1) Training and mentorship: Facilitate research skills training, holistic, interdisciplinary mentorship, and career development to catalyze the transition of promising women’s health investigators to independent researchers; (2) Team science and translational research: Support early investigators in conducting interdisciplinary team science-driven translational research that fosters their acumen to conduct innovative women’s health research across the lifespan. Core National Institutes of Health (NIH) research priority areas aligning with strengths at UNC include maternal health, metabolic disorders, behavioral health, infectious disease, and cancer; (3) Health across the lifespan and stakeholder engagement: Bridge the interaction between biological perspectives and external health factors by training the next generation of women’s health investigators in how research design can incorporate stakeholder engagement to study and improve women’s health outcomes; and (4) Evaluation and Continuous Quality Improvement: Provide comprehensive evaluation and continuous quality improvement to guide decision-making, program improvement, and outcomes/impacts assessment. Our experienced interdisciplinary mentorship team, along with UNC’s substantial institutional resources, will create a program which is ready to addresses the common challenges faced by early career investigators and ensure our program trains scholars whose research will address significant health issues women’s health, promote innovation, and improve the lives of women across the U.S.