Sunday, May 11, 2025
5/11/2025
Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (K12) - 7. Project Summary/Abstract Duke University and North Carolina Central University (NCCU), a historically Black institution, are applying for competitive renewal of our BIRCWH program. The Duke/NCCU BIRCWH is a strong, vibrant program that has the leadership and institutional commitment required for continued success. Our partnership, now in its 20th year, provides the foundation for a program that encompasses interdisciplinary research, structured mentoring, and individualized career development for junior faculty, with three major goals: (1) Develop highly skilled, innovative researchers who use interdisciplinary approaches to investigate women’s health and sex/gender influences across the lifespan; (2) Foster diversity in women’s health research and advance health disparities research affecting women’s health by identifying and recruiting scholars from diverse backgrounds and (3) Enable and equip BIRCWH scholars to lead interdisciplinary teams of scientists, and to become the mentors and leaders of the future. We have supported 24 BIRCWH scholars from a wide range of personal, scientific, and academic backgrounds, and 21% have been from groups underrepresented in medicine (URiM). We plan to continue to support three junior faculty members at a time, including one from a URiM group. Drawing on the breadth and depth of expertise at our two universities, we have the capacity to advance the career development of scholars interested in basic, clinical, or health services research across a broad range of fields. Taking advantage of synergy between our expert advisors, supportive leadership, and experienced BIRCWH mentors (27 disciplines, 46% women, 25% URiM), our scholars learn to integrate approaches to focus on women’s health and sex/gender differences in human disease. Scholars’ interdisciplinary mentoring teams invariably include a mentor from our core group of nationally known senior investigators from Duke and NCCU, with others added to maximize interdisciplinary expertise and collaborations. Our program spans two to five years, depending on each scholar’s career development needs, and consists of intense, hands-on research; didactic course work; and training in grant writing, health disparities, team science, SABV and RCR. Each scholar's progress is monitored by the Leadership Team and the Internal Advisory Committee (IAC). The program is assessed and advised by the IAC and an External Advisory Committee. At the completion of the program, scholars will have published results in peer-reviewed journals, obtained funding as a PI, and become leaders and mentors themselves. Our alumni scholars have been promoted to full Professor (32%), obtained federal funding (68%) and advanced into leadership positions including academic Vice Chairs, Vice Deans, Associate Vice Provost, and Associate Vice President for Research. External evaluations of our program and scholars are performed by an independent evaluator in the Duke Social Science Research Institute. As our track record shows, the Duke/NCCU BIRCWH program is achieving its goal to increase the size and influence of a diverse pool of highly trained women’s health researchers who are poised to address the nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical needs.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).