Developing Research Leadership in Infectious Diseases Impacting Women

Weill Medical Coll Of Cornell Univ, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary. We propose an innovative research education program, “Developing Research Leadership in Infectious Diseases Impacting Women.” Our goals are to address the knowledge gap in sex differences in global infectious diseases in the U.S and worldwide, and to train the next generation of clinical investigators in this field. In 2014, our team founded the Women’s Global Health Research Initiative which hosted two-day scientific conferences in global health and provided a high-impact training program for researchers in women’s health and global health. This initiative, now in its 9th year, has become a research community for both expert scientists and trainees in global health with over 80 faculty and 300 trainees. We now propose to leverage this initiative to expand educational training in infectious diseases that impact women and provide structured career development to a broader pool of early-stage investigators focused on global infectious diseases that impact women. Our program includes two components: (1) an annual “Global Infectious Diseases across a Woman’s Lifespan” course; and (2) a “Global Infectious Diseases and Women’s Health (GIDWH)” Scholars Program. The scientific course will provide didactic training in sex differences in global infectious diseases (HIV, TB, malaria, respiratory infections), host-immunology across the woman’s lifespan, treatment, prevention, and community factors that contribute to poor health outcomes for women in the U.S. and globally. The course will also provide practical tools to conduct research in women’s health, and networking opportunities with peers and senior leaders in the field. The GIDWH Scholars Program will consist of a competitively-selected group of early-stage investigators. Scholars will receive longitudinal training over two years to strengthen and complement ongoing research training with their primary scientific mentor at their home institution. GIDWH Scholar training will include peer mentorship cohorts for leadership training, and Research Advisory Teams of senior researchers with technical or topical expertise specific to the scholar’s research interests. Scholars will receive research-enabling funds to augment their career progression. Over five years, 200 early-stage investigators will attend the educational course, of whom 10 per year (years 1-4) will be selected to participate in the two-year GIDWH Scholars Program (40 total). Our proposed program aligns with the NIAID’s women’s health mission to “conduct and support basic and translational research to understand, diagnose, prevent and treat infectious diseases that impact the health of women and girls.” Through combining didactic research training with individualized leadership training and career development, we expect that trainees will improve their understanding of the complex biologic and other determinants that contribute to sex differences in infectious diseases. Further, we anticipate that this research education program will further their ability to conduct research to improve the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases that impact women.