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

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