Boston University BIRCWH

Boston University Medical Campus, Boston MA

Investigators

Abstract

The vision of the Boston University (BU) BIRCWH program is to promote interdisciplinary women’s health research to improve health quality across the life course. The mission is to develop lifelong independent investigators with vitality who will contribute to the flourishing national network in women’s health, health outcomes, and sex differences research across the translational science continuum. The BU BIRCWH program will focus on the cross-cutting themes of health outcomes across all populations; addiction science; maternal and child health; and sex influences on health based on our extensive institutional expertise. Innovations of our program that will accelerate Scholar’s success include: 1) Our deep commitment to health quality in partnership with BU’s teaching hospital Boston Medical Center, the largest safety net hospital in New England, giving Scholars access to a unique patient population; 2) Integration of our Scholars into our BU Women’s Health Research Affinity Research Collaborative (ARC) to foster interdisciplinary team science and leadership skills; 3) Access to cutting-edge data science expertise and technologies to advance women’s health research; 4) Our 38 senior and near-peer mentors from 6 different schools and 15 departments from across BU with diverse translational (T0-4), disciplinary, and life course expertise spanning all NIH women’s health priority areas; 5) Our matrix mentoring, coaching, and sponsorship model to promote Scholar vitality essential to achieving and sustaining independent research careers; 6) Education in communication strategies to enhance visibility and policy impact; and 7) Our hosting an annual Boston BIRCWH Women’s Health Research Symposium to strengthen the regional BIRCWH Scholar network and to accelerate broader collaborations by inviting national BIRCWH Scholars focused on health quality to form a ‘hub’ of women’s health researchers. Our BU BIRCWH program will support 3 Scholars per year who will participate in a 2-year curriculum with the following core components: a) Completion of a scholarly research project under the supervision of a multi-disciplinary mentoring team; b) Participation in our tailored BU BIRCWH seminar series focused on core women’s health topics and our cross-cutting themes; c) Vitality strengthening activities through our BU BIRCWH learning community; d) Participation in our BU Women’s Health Research ARC to promote team science; and e) Optional electives that fit within their individual development plans. We are intentionally partnering with the BU Clinical & Translational Science Institute (CTSI) to ensure adequate exposure to translational science skill building, shared programming for early-career research faculty, and robust program evaluation. In summary, our long-term goals are to increase the number and quality of highly trained basic, clinical, translational, population, and community engagement scientists who become leaders in women’s health research; support Scholar vitality on their path to career independence; and disseminate research findings to transform women’s health research and accelerate health quality.