The goals of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Scholars Program at the University of Wisconsin (UW) are 1) to prepare Scholars for independent academic research careers studying health equity and health disparities among diverse populations of women and 2) to increase the diversity of academic leaders in the field of Women's Health (WH). We will accomplish these goals by selecting diverse and talented applicants and providing them with dual scientific mentorship with established investigators in both biomedical and behavioral/social sciences. We believe that integrating biomedical sciences, public health sciences, and socio-cultural and behavioral sciences is a prerequisite to addressing the linkages of macro-societal issues with pathogenesis of disease, so important in addressing health disparities. Thus, the UW BIRCWH provides interdisciplinary and multifaceted opportunities for research that includes not only biomedical and behavioral sciences, but also investigation into the quality of care, cost, access and satisfaction with services; causes of and barriers to reducing health disparities; social context; and identification of assessment measures for outcomes. To address not only the broad array of research areas outlined above but also the interdisciplinary nature of the possible candidates, the faculty is interdisciplinary and consists of physician scientists, perinatal researchers, sociologists, nurse scientists, nutritional scientists, epidemiologists and economists. The outstanding research mentors selected for the BIRCWH are enthusiastic about the opportunity to mentor more advanced Scholars through the BIRCWH. A major strength of the UW proposal is the integration of the BIRCWH Scholars into a thriving interdisciplinary WH and health equity and health disparities research network. This will provide the Scholars with role models as well as cutting edge research opportunities; thus, fostering their careers as academicians, scientists, and leaders. There is a need to increase public awareness and understanding of the determinants of health, disease, disability, and the opportunities for improvement (Healthy People 2020). Additionally, there is a need to increase the diversity of academic leaders in the field of Women's Health Research in health equity and disparities including the health status and health outcomes among diverse populations of women, which is the focus of this career development program. These future leaders in academic medicine will play a major role in improving the health and health care of all women, pushing forward the frontiers of WH research, bringing new knowledge to beneficial application, and framing the WH research agenda of the future. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The goals of this program are to prepare Scholars for independent academic research careers studying health equity and health disparities among diverse populations of women, and to increase the diversity of academic leaders in the field of Women's Health. These future leaders in academic medicine will be facile in interdisciplinary environments and will bring new knowledge to widespread use, thus playing a critical role in reducing health disparities and in improving the health and health care of all women
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NIH ExPorter