Overview
The WRHR Program began in 1998 to provide the opportunity for obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYNs) who recently completed postgraduate clinical training to further their education and experience in basic, translational, and clinical research. Program sites provide OB/GYN departments with an opportunity to create a pool of junior investigators with expertise in women's reproductive health research. The WRHR Program is funded through NICHD's Gynecologic Health and Disease Branch and co-sponsored by the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health using the NIH Mentored Research Scientist Development Program Award (K12) mechanism.
There are 15 WRHR sites in OB/GYN departments throughout the nation. The primary goal of these sites is to provide OB/GYN junior faculty with state-of-the-art training in women's reproductive health research in an academic setting, and to increase the research capacity of clinically trained OB/GYNs. WRHR scholars represent a diverse group of physician-scientists from several subspecialties and emerging areas in OB/GYN who pursue a broad range of basic science, translational, and/or clinical research topics.
Topic Areas
WRHR encompasses all areas of OB/GYN research. The focus is on scientific topics relevant to general OB/GYN and/or its subspecialties, including maternal and fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology, reproductive endocrinology and infertility, and female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery (urogynecology). Related fields, such as perimenopause and adolescent gynecology, are also of interest. Senior investigators from established research programs, which address a broad range of basic and applied biomedical and biobehavioral science, in OB/GYN and collaborating departments form an intellectual and technical research base for mentoring WRHR scholars.
Current Sites
2015-2020 WRHR Program Sites
- Augusta University Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Plan
Augusta University (formerly Georgia Regents University), Augusta, Georgia
Contacts:
Sharad A. Ghamande, M.D. (PI): sghamande@augusta.edu
Nita Maihle, Ph.D. (Research Director): nmaihle@gru.edu
- Brown University/Women & Infants Hospital (WIH) Women's WRHR Career Development Program: Improving Women's Health through Career Development in Clinical Research
WIH Rhode Island/Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
Contacts:
B. Starr Hampton, M.D.(PI): bhampton@kentRI.org
Kristen Matteson, M.D., M.P.H. (Research Director): kmatteson@wihri.org
- Colorado Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Center
University of Colorado, Denver, Denver, Colorado
Contacts:
Nanette Santoro, M.D. (PI): nanette.santoro@cuanschutz.edu
Raj Kumar, Ph.D (Research Co-Director): raj.kumar@cuanschutz.edu
Janelle Sheeder, M.S.P.H, Ph.D. (Research Co-Director): jeanelle.sheeder@cuanschutz.edu
- Continuation of Wayne State University's Successful Development of Physician-Scientists as Independent Researchers in the Area of Women's Reproductive Health
Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan
Contacts:
Chaur-Dong Hsu, M.D., M.P.H. (PI): chsu@med.wayne.edu
Awoniyi Awonuga (Research Director): aawonuga@med.wayne.edu
- Fast Forwarding Women's Reproductive Health Research: University of Michigan WRHR Career Development Program
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Contacts:
Dee Fenner, M.D. (PI): deef@med.umich.edu
Yolanda R. Smith, M.D., M.S. (Research Director): ysmith@umich.edu
- Magee-Womens Basic Training Program
Magee-Womens Research Institute & Foundation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Contacts:
Robert P. Edwards, M.D. (PI): redwards@mail.magee.edu
Janet Catov, Ph.D., M.S. (Research Director): catovjm@upmc.edu
- OB/GYN Faculty Research Career Development Program (PDF 123 KB)
University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
Contacts:
Todd Jenkins, M.D. (Interim PI): trjenkins@uabmc.edu
Holly Richter, Ph.D., M.D (Research Director): hrichter@uabmc.edu
Kathy Minor (Recruitment Director): kminor@uabmc.edu
- Penn Center for Career Development in Women's Health Research
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Contacts:
Samuel Parry, M.D. (PI): parry@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Michal Elovitz, M.D. (Research Director): elovitz@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
Christos Coutifaris, M.D. (Recruitment Director): coutifaris@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
- Research Career Development in Obstetrics and Gynecology
Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
Contacts:
Serdar E. Bulun, M.D. (PI): s-bulun@northwestern.edu
Melissa Simon, M.D. (Research Director): m-simon2@northwestern.edu
- Utah Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Program
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Contacts:
Robert M. Silver, M.D. (PI): bob.silver@hsc.utah.edu
Michael Varner, M.D. (Research Director): michael.varner@hsc.utah.edu
David Turok, M.D. (Recruitment Director): david.turok@hsc.uah.edu
- Women's Reproductive Health Research Program
University of California San Diego, San Diego, California
Contacts:
Charles W. Nager, M.D. (PI): cnager@ucsd.edu
Pamela L. Mellon, Ph.D. (Research Director): pmellon@ucsd.edu
Louise Laurent, M.D., Ph.D. (Recruitment Director): llaurent@uscd.edu
- Women's Reproductive Health Research
University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California
Contacts:
Amy Murtha , M.D. (PI): amy.murtha@ucsf.edu
Synthia Mellon, Ph.D. (Research Co-Director): sindy.mellon@ucsf.edu
Vanessa Jacoby, M.D. (Research Co-Director): vanessa.jacoby@ucsf.edu
- Women's Reproductive Health Research K12 Program
Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon
Contacts:
Aaron B. Caughey, M.D., Ph.D. (PI): caughey@ohsu.edu
Jeff Jensen, M.D., M.P.H. (Research Director): jensenje@ohsu.edu
Antonio Frias, M.D. (Recruitment Director): friasa@ohsu.edu
- Women's Reproductive Health Research at the University of Washington
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Contacts:
Barbara Goff, M.D. (PI): bgoff@uw.edu
Susan Reed, M.D., M.P.H. (Research Director): reeds@uw.edu
Erin McCoy (Administrator): eemcoy@uw.edu
- Yale WRHR Career Development Center
Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Contacts:
Hugh S. Taylor (PI): hugh.taylor@yale.edu
Vikki Abrahams, Ph.D. (Research Director): vikki.abrahams@yale.edu
More Information
NICHD Contact: Lisa Halvorson