Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health - Project Summary This is a competing renewal application for the Tulane BIRCWH Program, which has successfully trained a racially/ethnically and professionally diverse group of interdisciplinary researchers in women’s health and in- creased awareness of women’s health research at Tulane over the last 4 years. We propose now to build on our prior success and expand and reinforce the BIRCWH program base. The long-term goal is to increase the number and diversity of highly trained culturally competent, independent, interdisciplinary investigators in Women’s Health with an emphasis on Sex/Gender Differences research in the fields of cardiovascular dis- ease (CVD), infectious disease (ID) and neuroscience (NS). The program will focus on CVD, ID and NS be- cause of the impacts of these diseases on women, the existing knowledge gaps on the sex/gender differences across the research spectrum, and the strength of these areas at Tulane. Key components of our successful career development plan include 1) didactic courses tailored to specific Scholar needs; 2) individualized ca- reer development training; 3) BIRCWH seminar series; 4) Work-in-Progress sessions; 5) required grant & sci- entific writing and project management workshops; 6) mentored interdisciplinary research; 7) responsible con- duct in research training. The innovative approach includes tailoring the program to Scholars needs using self- efficacy assessment and career development plans, and using a network mentoring model for each Scholar, including expertise in both basic science and clinical research. Scholars are immediately exposed to research and are guided to establish a scholarly track record early, and gain presentation and organization skills by ac- tive participation in the Health Sciences Research days-Women’s Health/Sex Differences Section. New com- ponents of the enhanced BIRCWH program include expanding capacity with the recently established Tulane Center of Excellence in Sex-based Biology and Medicine (TCESBM); increasing faculty participation in ex- panded fields of ID and NS; building Scholar competence in team science and equity,diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research; and advancing understanding of the interplay between sex/gender with social determinants of health (SDOH). The Scholars will learn cutting-edge research methods and skills from Bench (cellular, mo- lecular, genetics), to Bedside (clinical research, clinical trials) to Population (epidemiology, prevention, health services research) and conduct their own research projects in established laboratories/groups in a mentored, interdisciplinary environment that address the 2019-2023 Trans-NIH Strategic Plan for Women’s Health Re- search. Scholar’s interdisciplinary research will focus on sex/gender differences in CVD, ID, and NS and ad- dress overarching themes (lifespan, sex/gender determinants, health disparities, interdisciplinary research). We propose to train 6 faculty Scholars for 2-3 years (3 years typical for physician-scientists). Ongoing, com- prehensive evaluation will guide improvements to the program's demonstrated success in bridging research training & research independence for junior scholars focused on sex/gender differences in CVD, ID, and NS.
