Research Career Development in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Northwestern University At Chicago, Evanston IL

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT The long-standing goal of the Women’s Reproductive Health Research Career Development (WRHR) Program at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is to foster and sustain an outstanding mentored research training program for Obstetricians and Gynecologists and to prepare our WRHR Scholars to become successful independent investigators in women’s reproductive health research. First funded in 2005, our WRHR Program has made major strides toward this goal. We have met all WRHR benchmarks, having successfully trained 12 Scholars who have published 1,291 peer-reviewed manuscripts and received 147 grant awards as PI, with 50 NIH grants from 12 Institutes (NICHD, NHLBI, NIMH, NIMHD, NCI, NLM, NIDDK, NIAID, NINR, OD, NCATS, and NIA), including 16 R01s. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBGYN) will continue to coordinate and administer the WRHR Program and leverage the scientific wealth and robust reproductive research infrastructure at Northwestern. Leadership at Northwestern continues to make strong institutional commitments to our WRHR Program. Serdar Bulun, MD, the original WRHR Program Director, is Chair of the Department of OBGYN and PI of this WRHR renewal. Melissa Simon, MD, MPH, is Vice Chair of Research of the Department of OBGYN and one of our highly successful original WRHR Scholars; she remains as the WRHR Program Research Director. The Blue Ridge Institute ranks our Department as the third highest for OBGYN NIH funding in the U.S. Five of our named primary mentors on this application are in the top 50 in NIH OBGYN funding (Drs. Bulun, Simon, Adli, Kim, Yee). Northwestern operates large, comprehensive, and high-quality OBGYN residency and fellowship programs that attract some of the best and brightest residents and fellows; thus, we have an active pool of candidates for WRHR Scholar selection. Our WRHR Scholars have opportunities to choose among highly competitive clinical research teams or basic and translational science laboratories that conduct research in the areas of General Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, Reproductive (Basic) Science in Medicine, Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Gynecologic Oncology, Clinical Genetics, Diagnostic Ultrasound, Minimally Invasive Gynecology Surgery, Family Planning and Contraception, and Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery. Research methodologies and approaches span cutting-edge basic and translational techniques, and our world class mentors and collaborators include clinical trial and behavioral intervention specialists, psychometricians, biostatisticians, and experts in a wide range of biomarkers, bio- behavioral, and social science research approaches. WRHR Scholars will continue to interact with several Department, Medical School and University-wide Institutes and Centers, including the Center for Reproductive Science, Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, the Lurie Cancer Center, the Center for Health Equity Transformation, and the Institute for Public Health and Medicine, which are all home to large-scale center/multi- site grants in focused OBGYN areas.