The Yale WRHR Career Development Center

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Yale Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) Career Development Center was established 20 years ago. Its objective is to provide advanced training of Ob/Gyns in basic, translational and/or clinical women's reproductive health research under the guidance of skilled scientific Mentors, to produce the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders in the field. It has been extremely successful. So far, the Yale WRHR has mentored 13 Scholars, of which 11 have graduated, and 2 are in-training. Our original 3 Scholars are now an Ob/Gyn Chair, a Division Director, and a Deputy Dean of Education. All have successfully obtained NIH funds as PI. Other graduated WRHR scholars have become, or are becoming, leaders in their fields, hold faculty positions in Ob/Gyn Departments at major US academic institutions, and include Division Directors, Fellowship Directors, and Directors of Research and Education. Among our graduated Scholars, 100% have received funding as PI, with 55% receiving this funding from NIH as PI of an R award. This proposal is a continuation of our well-established, rigorous, step-wise training program. The Program Director/Principal Investigator (PD/PI) and Research Director (RD) monitor the Scholars’ academic progress toward independence. We identify prospective Scholars from our residents and fellows, and by national networking, advertisements in professional journals, letters to Program Directors/Chairs, and postings at national meetings. Our Advisory Committee selects Scholars exhibiting exceptional promise and commitment to a career in Women's Reproductive Health Research. The PD/PI, RD, and Advisory Committee are involved in the training, evaluation, and academic development of each Scholar and monitor their progress toward independence. Mentors are experienced in career development and are outstanding scientists in fields related to Women's Reproductive Health. Core training laboratories in Molecular and Cellular Biology along with a didactic program are required for all Scholars, that includes instruction in the Responsible Conduct of Research and in Methods for Enhancing Reproducibility. We have two concurrent Scholars, each with assigned laboratory space and access to shared teaching and training cores. At least 75% of the Scholars' time is devoted to research, plus support for up to 5 years to underwrite costs while they obtain preliminary data for grant applications. Our goal is for Scholars to obtain competitive NIH and other funding sufficient to suppport an independent academic career. Scholars enter the Department as Assistant Professors with appropriate office space and adminstrative support. Clinical responsibilities relate directly to their research interests. The Yale WRHR program is extremely popular and competitive, allowing us to rapidly fill open positions with outstanding and diverse candidates. The overall impact and effectiveness of the program and its quality are evidenced by our Scholars’ success. The Yale WRHR Center has a long and continuing record of developing Scholars into independent investigators. Yale seeks to retain Scholars who successfully complete this individualized training program and have made significant progress toward independent funding.