UTMB Women's Health Research Scholars Program - Abstract
The goal of the UTMB BIRCWH program, now in its 14th year, is to launch Scholars into successful careers as
independent researchers in women’s health. We have achieved this for 3 cycles with 83% of former Scholars
obtaining 57 external grants as PI worth $32.7 million in total costs. With generous support from UTMB’s
President, we request a 4th cycle to support 3 assistant professors for 2-3 years each for a total of 6 Scholars
over 5 years. Our program recruits internally from our highly diverse campus and externally using a tiered
pipeline that includes 6 Hispanic-serving institutions in the University of Texas system. Over the last 5 years,
we received 44 eligible applicants for 5 vacancies. Of the 5 admitted, 40% were from underrepresented groups
proving we attract diverse, high quality candidates. Three Associate Directors with expertise in public health,
biostatistics, drug development, molecular biology, and health services research will work with the PD/PI to
ensure robust leadership and an interdisciplinary focus for all program activities. Scholars will be guided by 2
or more of our 20 Mentors, working in 4 inter-professional teams built from existing collaborations in areas of
strength on our campus: Reproductive Health, Aging, Infectious Diseases, and Health Disparities/Hispanic
Health. UTMB offers unique opportunities in Hispanic Health research, and all Scholars will be encouraged to
interact with this team. Three Mentors from MD Anderson or Baylor College of Medicine, who have long-term
collaborations with our program, will offer Scholars additional mentoring, collaboration, and networking
opportunities. Our Mentors all have extensive publication records in women’s health, external funding as PI
(average of $1.37 million per year) and strong mentoring histories. They have a long history of co-publishing
with each other and their mentees, demonstrating effective use of team science. Our expanded Resource Lab
will provide guidance in study methodology, biostatistics, and navigating IRB processes. Once appointed,
Scholars will make Individual Development Plans and tailor their didactic experiences accordingly. All must
demonstrate competence in 10 objectives that define the fundamental knowledge, skills, and attitudes of an
accomplished investigator. Our program devotes significant time to mentoring and specialized seminars,
including Specific Aims development meetings. Experiential learning includes individual instruction in writing
and career development interactions with senior leaders on campus. We have added training in bioinformatics,
sex and gender research, and a requirement for Scholars to mentor biomedical students to prepare Scholars
for advanced academic roles. An external review of Scholars, Directors, Mentors, Resource Lab, and program
processes occurs annually. Scholars must submit evidence of national presentations, published manuscripts,
and progress toward independent funding. The Advisory Committee reviews all evaluation data and confirms
each Scholar’s continuation for another year. Renewal of this highly successful program will enable diverse
junior faculty to launch independent careers and make important contributions in women’s health.
