K12AR085544

UNC Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health - Project Summary/Abstract

Abstract

Significant gaps remain in the study of women’s health and understanding the effect of biological sex differences on disease risk, pathophysiology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment.

From birth through childhood and adolescence into reproductive age and beyond, women encounter barriers affecting their opportunities, outcomes, and quality of life.

The mission of the University of North Carolina Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program is to mentor and train early career investigators to become independent interdisciplinary translational science researchers who study high priority areas in women’s health, explore sex influences on health and disease and also incorporate research strategies to promote health across the lifespan.

Our priorities are to address crosscutting interdisciplinary themes from the 2024-28 NIH-wide strategic plan for women’s health research and continuous evaluation of scholar progress and program effectiveness.

We propose the following aims:

(1) Training and mentorship: Facilitate research skills training, holistic, interdisciplinary mentorship, and career development to catalyze the transition of promising women’s health investigators to independent researchers;

(2) Team science and translational research: Support early investigators in conducting interdisciplinary team science-driven translational research that fosters their acumen to conduct innovative women’s health research across the lifespan. Core National Institutes of Health (NIH) research priority areas aligning with strengths at UNC include maternal health, metabolic disorders, behavioral health, infectious disease, and cancer;

(3) Health across the lifespan and stakeholder engagement: Bridge the interaction between biological perspectives and external health factors by training the next generation of women’s health investigators in how research design can incorporate stakeholder engagement to study and improve women’s health outcomes; and

(4) Evaluation and continuous quality improvement: Provide comprehensive evaluation and continuous quality improvement to guide decision-making, program improvement, and outcomes/impacts assessment.

Our experienced interdisciplinary mentorship team, along with UNC’s substantial institutional resources, will create a program which is ready to address the common challenges faced by early career investigators and ensure our program trains scholars whose research will address significant health issues in women’s health, promote innovation, and improve the lives of women across the U.S.

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DISEASES (NIAMS) MISSION IS TO SUPPORT RESEARCH INTO THE CAUSES, TREATMENT, AND PREVENTION OF ARTHRITIS AND MUSCULOSKELETAL AND SKIN DISEASES, TRAINING OF BASIC AND CLINICAL SCIENTISTS TO CARRY OUT THIS RESEARCH, AND DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ON RESEARCH PROGRESS IN THESE DISEASES. THE EXTRAMURAL PROGRAM PROMOTES AND SUPPORTS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL, AND CLINICAL STUDIES OF SYSTEMIC RHEUMATIC AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES, SKIN BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, BONE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, MUSCLE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES, AND JOINT BIOLOGY AND DISEASES AND ORTHOPAEDICS. NIAMS SYSTEMIC RHEUMATIC AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES PROGRAMS ADDRESS BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL, AND CLINICAL RESEARCH, INCLUDING CLINICAL TRIALS AND OBSERVATIONAL AND MECHANISTIC STUDIES, FOCUSED ON IMMUNE-MEDIATED ARTHRITIS AND AUTOIMMUNE-RELATED ACUTE AND CHRONIC DISORDERS IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN. NIAMS SKIN BIOLOGY AND DISEASES PROGRAMS SUPPORT BASIC, TRANSLATIONAL, AND CLINICAL RESEARCH IN SKIN, INCLUDING BOTH COMMON AND RARE SKIN DISEASES. THESE PROGRAMS INCLUDE INVESTIGATIONS OF THE BASIC MOLECULAR, CELLULAR, AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY OF SKIN, AS WELL AS STUDIES OF SKIN AS AN IMMUNE, SENSORY, ENDOCRINE, AND METABOLIC ORGAN. NIAMS BONE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES PROGRAMS SUPPORT RESEARCH ON THE CONTROL OF BONE FORMATION, RESORPTION, AND MINERALIZATION AS WELL AS THE EFFECTS OF SIGNALING MOLECULES ON BONE CELLS. THEY SUPPORT CLINICAL STUDIES OF INTERVENTIONS TO PREVENT FRACTURES ASSOCIATED WITH OSTEOPOROSIS AND RESEARCH INTO LESS COMMON BONE DISEASES. NIAMS MUSCLE BIOLOGY AND DISEASES PROGRAMS ENCOURAGE RESEARCH ON MUSCLE DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY, GROWTH, MAINTENANCE, AND HYPERTROPHY, PHYSIOLOGY OF CONTRACTION, STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY OF THE CONTRACTILE APPARATUS, DISEASE MECHANISMS, BIOMARKERS AND OUTCOME MEASURES, AND DEVELOPMENT AND CLINICAL TESTING OF THERAPIES FOR CONDITIONS INCLUDING THE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHIES. NIAMS JOINT BIOLOGY, DISEASES, AND ORTHOPAEDICS PROGRAMS SUPPORT A BROAD SPECTRUM OF RESEARCH CENTERED ON THE INTERPLAY AMONG THE BODY'S MUSCLES, BONES, AND CONNECTIVE TISSUES. THEY ENCOURAGE TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE RESEARCH, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, IMAGING, AND CLINICAL RESEARCH, AND THE TREATMENT AND PREVENTION OF ORTHOPAEDIC CONDITIONS. NIAMS PARTICIPATES IN THE SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) AND SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAMS. THE SBIR PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. THE STTR PROGRAM IS INTENDED TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.310 - Trans-NIH Research Support

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) [HHS - NIH]

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [HHS - NIH]

Chapel Hill, North Carolina 275996134 United States

Single Zip Code

Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) (K12 Clinical Trial Optional) (RFA-OD-24-013)