# Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health

> **NIH NIH K12** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $456,187

## Abstract

PROGRAM SUMMARY
The goal of the Vanderbilt BIRCWH Scholars Program is to increase the pool of well-prepared investigators
dedicated to advancing knowledge about women's health via advances in sex and gender biology. Our intent is
to integrate the study of sex/gender differences into thriving research programs across the scientific spectrum,
in order to actualize personalized prevention, diagnostics, and therapeutics for girls and women. We are
building on a tradition of research excellence that includes large-scale health system data; ongoing cohorts,
several with more than 90,000 participants like the Southern Community Cohort Study and Shanghai Women's
and Men's Health Studies; two decades of Medicaid data record linkages; DNA samples linked with clinical
data for more than 220,000 patients; robust tissue and biomarker banks and consortia access; and more than
50 cores that support interdisciplinary teams making fundamental discoveries inside and outside the lab. Our
25 former and current scholars conduct research in areas as diverse as immunologic aspects of lupus, gender
differences in outcomes of ICU care, differences in gait and needs for prosthetic revision among female and
male amputees, role of sex hormones in T cell differentiation and cytokine expression, and patterns of
progression and resistance to dementia comparing women and men. All our alumni remain in science or
industry. Of those in academics, all have had extramural awards, 88% with federal funding, for a total of more
than $32 million in extramural research support. BIRCWH Scholars are grounded in the fundamentals of
women's health and sex differences research, prepared to lead collaborative teams, trained to effectively
deploy innovative interdisciplinary approaches to attack and solve problems, and committed to pursuing
research that brings individualized care for women closer to reality. Scholars are selected by competitive
review of applications from among early-career faculty. Training is tailored to the individual scholar guided by
structured interdisciplinary mentorship, and is overseen by the PI, Program Director and Associate Program
Director (each former BIRCWH Scholars). Scholars form a mentoring panel, craft an individualized career plan,
participate in weekly BIRCWH work-in-progress presentations and seminars, receive formal evaluation each
year, attend twice-monthly career development seminar series with other K-awardees, and are regularly
exposed to case studies on responsible conduct of rigorous and reproducible research. They have access to:
1) an array of cores; 2) biostatistics consults; 3) manuscript preparation groups; 4) technical editing of
completed products; 5) studios with experts to vet scientific ideas, aims, and research designs; 6) intramural
pilot and feasibility funding; and 7) grant writing support including grant workshops, a funded grant library, and
internal study sections. Tools are in place to evaluate both mentees and mentors and to cont...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9996348
- **Project number:** 5K12HD043483-20
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** KATHERINE E HARTMANN
- **Activity code:** K12 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $456,187
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2002-09-26 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9996348

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9996348, Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (5K12HD043483-20). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9996348. Licensed CC0.

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