Women's Reproductive Health Research (WRHR) Career Development Program

• Overview
• Topic Areas
• Current Sites
• More Information

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

2020-2025 WRHR Program Sites

• Advancing Women’s Health through Research: the University of North Carolina (UNC) WRHR Career Development Program
  UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
  Contacts:
  Genevieve Neal-Perry, M.D., Ph.D. (Principal Investigator [PI]): genevieve_nealperry@med.unc.edu
  Benjamin Chi, M.D. (Research Director): bchi@med.unc.edu
  Kim Boggess, M.D. (Recruiting Officer): kboggess@med.unc.edu
   
• Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s WRHR Center of Excellence
  Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
  Contacts:
  Michael A Belfort, M.D., Ph.D. (PI): belfort@bcm.edu
  Kjersti Aagard, M.D., Ph.D. (Research Co-Director): aagaardt@bcm.edu
  Chandrasekhar Yallampalli, D.V.M., Ph.D. (Research Co-Director): chandrasekhar.yallampalli@bcm.edu
  Melissa Suter, Ph.D. (Recruiting Officer): masuter@bcm.edu
   
• Colorado WRHR Career Development Center 
  University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado
  Contacts:
  Nanette Santoro, M.D. (PI): nanette.santoro@cuanschutz.edu
  Tunuguntla Kumar, Ph.D. (Research Co-Director): raj.kumar@cuanschutz.edu
  Jeanelle Sheeder, Ph.D. (Research Co-Director): jeanelle.sheeder@cuanschutz.edu
   
• Duke Women’s Reproductive Health Research Scholars
  Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
  Contacts:
  Matthew Barber, M.D. (PI): matthew.barber@duke.edu
  Evan Myers, M.D. (Research Director): evan.myers@duke.edu
   
• Johns Hopkins WRHR Career Development Program
  Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
  Contacts:
  Andrew Satin, M.D. (PI): asatin2@jhmi.edu
  James Segars, M.D. (Research Director): jsegars2@jhmi.edu
  Victoria Handa, M.D., M.H.S. (Research Director): vhanda1@jhmi.edu
   
• Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) WRHR K12 Program
  OHSU, Portland, Oregon
  Contacts:
  Aaron B. Caughey, M.D., Ph.D. (PI): caughey@ohsu.edu
  Jeffrey Jensen, M.D., M.P.H. (Research Director): jensenje@ohsu.edu
  Antonio Frias, M.D. (Recruiting Officer): friasa@ohsu.edu
   
• The Penn Center for Career Development in Women's Health Research 
  University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  Contacts:
  Elizabeth Howell, M.D., M.P.P. (PI): elizabeth.howell1@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
  Christos Coutifaris, M.D., Ph.D. (Research Director/Recruiting Officer): christos.coutifaris@pennmedicine.upenn.edu
   
• Stanford WRHR Career Development Program 
  Stanford University, Palo Alto, California
  Contacts:
  Leslee Subak, M.D. (PI): lsubak@stanford.edu
  Virginia Winn, M.D., Ph.D. (Research Director): vwinn@stanford.edu
  Paul Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.H. (Recruiting Officer): pblumen@stanford.edu
   
• Transdisciplinary Harvard WRHR Career Development for Gynecologists and Obstetricians 
  Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
  Contacts:
  Nawal Nour, M.D., M.P.H. (PI): nnour@partners.org
  Raina Fichoroova, M.D., Ph.D. (Research Director): rfichorova@bwh.harvard.edu
   
• University of California San Diego (UCSD) WRHR Program 
  UCSD, San Diego, California
  Contacts:
  Linda Brubaker, M.D. (PI): librubaker@ucsd.edu
  Louise Laurent, MD, PhD (Research Director): llaurent@ucsd.edu
  Pamela L. Mellon, Ph.D. (Recruiting Officer): pmellon@ucsd.edu
   
• Utah’s Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Program
  University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
  Contacts:
  Robert Silver, M.D. (PI): bob.silver@hsc.utah.edu
  Michael Varner, M.D. (Research Director): michael.varner@hsc.utah.edu
  David Turok, M.D. (Recruiting Officer): david.turok@hsc.utah.edu
   
• WRHR Career Development Center in Obstetrics and Gynecology 
  Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois
  Contacts:
  Serdar E. Bulun, M.D. (PI): s-bulun@northwestern.edu
  Melissa Simon, M.D., M.P.H. (Research Director): m-simon2@northwestern.edu
   
• WRHR Career Development Program 
  University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California 
  Contacts:
  Amy Murtha, M.D., Ph.D., M.Sc. (PI): amy.murtha@ucsf.edu
  Vanessa Jacoby, M.D. (Research Co-Director): vanessa.jacoby@ucsf.edu
  Synthia Mellon, Ph.D. (Research Co-Director): mellons@obgyn.ucsf.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
   
• Yale WRHR Career Development Center 
  Yale University New Haven, Connecticut
  Contacts:
  Hugh S. Taylor, M.D. (PI): hugh.taylor@yale.edu
  Vikki Abrahams, Ph.D. (Research Director): vikki.abrahams@yale.edu

More Information

NICHD Contact: Lisa Halvorson