Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) Building the Next Generation of Women’s Health Researchers Eugene P. Orringer, MD Professor of Medicine Principal Investigator - UNC BIRCWH Program University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill September 30, 2010

ORWH Strategic Plan Goal #6 Employ innovative strategies to build a well-trained, diverse, and vigorous women’s health workforce. workforce

The BIRCWH Program BIRCWH is an acronym that stands for: B Building I Interdisciplinary R Research C Careers in W Women’s H Health

The BIRCWH Program Women’s health research is a high priority across the entire NIH Therefore, in 1999, the leadership of the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) conceived of the idea of the BIRCWH Program Their vision was for this interdisciplinary training program to be applicable across the entire spectrum of women's health research from basic laboratory science to studies involving individual patients to it application to large populations of women The response at the NIH was extremely positive, as Dr. Pinn & her colleagues were able to attract thirteen cooperating Institutes and Centers from the NIH to join them in co-sponsoring this effort

The BIRCWH Program Each BIRCWH award supports a Training Program for junior faculty members, all of whom have a passion for and a career commitment to women’s health research

The BIRCWH Program With the establishment of the BIRCWH Program in 2000, ORWH was among the very first entities to recognize the fundamental importance of interdisciplinary team science to biomedical research in general and the potential impact it could have in particular on women’s health research. Having had the good fortune to lead our BIRCWH Program at UNC-Chapel Hill since its inception over 10 years ago, I can say with certainty that the effect of this program on our institution has been absolutely profound. It has resulted in more than 20 new research-oriented faculty members, each one of whom began his or her career as BIRCWH Scholar.

The BIRCWH Program The BIRCWH Program currently supports a total of: » 27 programs » Located in 21 different states » Funding approximately 100 scholars Since its inception in 2000, the BIRCWH has been able to support: » Over 400 Scholars at sites all across the USA

The BIRCWH Program COHORT of 2007 Boston University Duke University Medical University of South Carolina Northwestern University Oregon Health & Science University Pennsylvania State University Tulane University University of Colorado University of Illinois, Chicago University of Maryland University of Minnesota University of Pittsburgh University of Wisconsin Vanderbilt University Virginia Commonwealth University COHORT of 2010 Brigham & Women’s Hospital Washington University University of California - SF University of Texas - Galveston Yale University University of Michigan University of California, Davis University of Rochester University of Kansas University of Cincinnati Michigan State University UNC-Chapel Hill

Development of the BIRCWH Program The BIRCWH Program was developed in 1999 and the initial BIRCWH Awards were made in 2000 There are three people who came up with the concept of the BIRCWH Program, and they all deserve credit for its creation. These three individuals include: Vivian Pinn Donna Vogel Joyce Rudick

Vivian Pinn Received her MD in 1967 from UVA where she was the only woman & the only African-American member of her class Founding Director of ORWH in 1991 Recognized the growing importance of interdisciplinary team science & its application to women’s health research Provided strong and enthusiastic support to Donna Vogel and Joyce Rudick as they worked to create and establish the BIRCWH Program Invested a substantial percentage of the ORWH budget in the BIRCWH Program

Donna Vogel MD-PhD Graduate of Albert Einstein School of Medicine Worked in a variety of positions at the NIH between In 1999, she played a major role in the creation and implementation of the BIRCWH Program

Joyce Rudick A graduate of Carnegie Mellon Has held a variety of roles at the NIH Currently the Director of Programs and Management at ORWH In 1999, she worked with Donna Vogel to create the BIRCWH Program Serves on numerous trans-NIH committees related to women’s health Has received numerous NIH Director’s & Merit Awards for her work on women’s health

The BIRCWH Program at UNC The BIRCWH at UNC has been truly remarkable, enabling us to create an entire community of successful, highly productive women’s health researchers Numerous “graduates” from the BIRCWH Program at UNC have gone on to: » Obtain their own, independent grant support » Compete successfully for promotion and tenure » Become mentors for the next generation of BIRCWH Scholars

UNC BIRCWH PROGRAM Total # of BIRCWH awardees ( ) 27 BIRCWH Awardees Currently in Academe 27 # Actively Involved in Women’s Health Research 27 Current BIRCWH Scholars 4 Graduates from UNC BIRCWH Program 23 Active Research Support 22 NIH Grant Recipients (as PI) 21 Total # of NIH grants (as PI) 38

UNC BIRCWH PROGRAM Total # of NIH grants (as PI) 38 Type of NIH Grants held by BIRCWH graduates  Individual K awards (K01, K02, K08, K23)14  Individual R awards (R01, R03, R21, R34)19  PPG Subprojects 3  Pending NIH awards 4  Others: U01, Z01 2 Total NIH Grant Dollars in these awards:$41,205,151 Total NIH Investment in BIRCWH Program:$ 5,000,000 Return on Investment (ROI): 824%

UNC BIRCWH PROGRAM Miscellaneous Awards American Cancer Society Pfizer Scholar Award RWJ Foundation AHRQ CDC American Water Works Fdn NSABP Award Doris Duke Foundation ASCO Kimmel Scholar American Heart Association Hemophilia Foundation Industry Awards Boehringer Ingelheim Novo Nordisk Bayer Glaxo SmithKline Gilead Sciences Abbot Labs Marine Polymer Technologies Eli Lilly Merck etc. etc. etc.

UNC BIRCWH PROGRAM We have just now begun Year -11 of our BIRCWH Award Thus far, eight of the 17 “graduates” from our BIRCWH Program who remain at UNC have been recommended for promotion from Assistant to Associate Professor All eight of these former BIRCWH Scholars have been successfully promoted and each has been granted permanent tenure at the University

The BIRCWH Program There are three features of the BIRCWH Program that our Scholars believe are critical to its success. They include: mentorsmentor-mentee relationships The mentors and the close mentor-mentee relationships that develop protected time The protected time that is available to them interdisciplinary The interdisciplinary nature of the program

UNC BIRCWH PROGRAM SUMMARY By demonstrating that a career in women’s health research could embrace multiple disciplines and types of science, the BIRCWH Program forever established women’s health research as a viable reality for these Scholars, something that might never have happened without the support & contributions of ORWH.