# University of Wisconsin Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Scholars Program

> **NIH NIH K12** · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · 2022 · $600,987

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Consistently a high priority, interdisciplinary women’s health research thrives at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison (UW) because of the overall climate of excellence, stellar research career development programs,
and dedication to collaboration between diverse disciplines. This exceptional tradition provides an outstanding
environment to foster the next generation of leaders in women’s health research. The UW BIRCWH will
provide novel, competency-based training and career development opportunities for these future leaders.
The vision of the UW BIRCWH program is to improve women’s health by developing a scientific workforce
capable of leading independently-funded biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research. The Multiple PIs bring
extensive knowledge, experience, and skills in women’s health research, didactic training, mentoring, and
research leadership. The program assembles 40 NIH-funded senior faculty mentors from 21 Departments in 11
Schools/Centers across UW to represent the entire translational spectrum. The UW BIRCWH program aims to:
a) identify/prepare committed and capable scholars; b) expand scholar knowledge of women’s health and
sex/gender research; c) enhance fundamental research skills; and d) foster independent research careers. The
UW BIRCWH program will support three early career scholars (assistant professor), for two to three years
pending attainment of scientific independence. The UW BIRCWH program will prioritize the goal of gender,
racial, ethnic, and sexual orientation equity and diversity in the program, the scientific workforce, and all
scientific pursuits. Core competencies will provide the foundation for the UW BIRCWH career development
program ensuring that scholars master the concepts that underpin women’s health research, sex/gender
differences research, and the intersection of women leaders and the advancement of women’s health. The
program will provide scholars with a competency-based curriculum, new courses focused on women’s health,
individualized experiential opportunities, and novel team science training. The program will align each scholar
with three established faculty mentors, each with designated and complementary roles, to provide
interdisciplinary team mentoring with an innovative component that emphasizes career coaching. The program
will systematically gather actionable feedback from scholars, faculty mentors, and senior advisors to evaluate
both process and outcome measures designed for continuous improvement, for programmatic evolution, and
to ultimately meet program goals.
The UW BIRCWH program will leverage a highly interdisciplinary environment, committed leadership, and
ambitious early career faculty to fuel discoveries and translational activities that will drive the future of women’s
health and sex/gender differences research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10424428
- **Project number:** 5K12HD101368-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
- **Principal Investigator:** ELIZABETH S BURNSIDE
- **Activity code:** K12 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $600,987
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10424428

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10424428, University of Wisconsin Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Scholars Program (5K12HD101368-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10424428. Licensed CC0.

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