UAB Interdisciplinary Research Scholars' Program in Women's Health

In this new application, we propose the UAB Interdisciplinary Research Scholar’s Program in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) Career Development Program, dedicated to providing early career clinical and biomedical postdoctoral faculty with an interdisciplinary environment in which to attain the research skills and experience to become independent investigators in women’s health problems present across the lifespan. The primary objectives of this UAB Program will be: 1) to recruit early career faculty (Scholars) at/to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) who are motivated to develop an independent research career in interdisciplinary basic, clinical, and population research relevant to the health of women and, where appropriate, the use of both genders to understand the influence of sex as a biological variable on health and disease 2) to promote the career development of these Scholars by providing the opportunity to obtain a master’s of science in public health or other advanced training/certification in the principles and techniques of clinical and biomedical research 3) to integrate the career development of these Scholars within research projects in scientific areas of emphasis with important relevance to women’s health throughout the lifespan and 4) to assemble mentorship teams that include established, early/mid-career and peer mentors to partner with the Scholar in developing productive research programs and career development. We anticipate attracting Scholars from a variety of backgrounds involved in basic biomedical, translational, and clinical research, including the focus areas of Gynecology, Maternal-Child, Infectious Diseases and Cardiovascular health with clinical, basic science and/or population approaches. We anticipate supporting a total of 5 Scholars (maximum of 3 at any one time) over 5 years, with yearly appointments and individual support for 2-3 years, in which it is expected that independent funding will be obtained. The UAB BIRCWH Program will utilize specifically accomplished NIH and other funded, established, early/mid-career and peer program mentors, accomplished training advisory committee members, the resources of the UAB Center for Research in Women's Health (CRWH, a recognized University-Wide Interdisciplinary Research Center [UWIRC]), the UAB Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS), the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center, among other UAB campus resources including other UWIRCS, to provide an interdisciplinary matrix and guide the research career development of these early career faculty PhD/MD Scholars. The 2 Program Director/Principal Investigators (PD/PI) and third Co-PI, with the assistance of the Executive Committee and Training Advisory Committee, will be responsible for managing all aspects of the Program and formally guiding and tracking the performance of the Program and Scholars. The UAB BIRCWH Scholar’s Program will be implemented by nationally and internationally known mentors who are trained physician scientists and women’s health leaders.