Office of Research on Women’s Health Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH)(ORWH)

Building the Next Generation of Building the Next Generation of Women’s Health ResearchersWomen’s Health Researchers

Eugene P. Orringer, MDProfessor of Medicine

Principal Investigator - UNC BIRCWH ProgramUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

September 30, 2010

ORWH Strategic Plan - 2010

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

The BIRCWH ProgramThe 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 ProgramThe 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 ProgramThe 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 ProgramThe 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 ProgramThe 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 ProgramThe BIRCWH ProgramCOHORT 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 ProgramDevelopment 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 PinnVivian 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 VogelDonna Vogel

• MD-PhD Graduate of Albert Einstein School of Medicine

• Worked in a variety of positions at the NIH between 1980 - 2005

• In 1999, she played a major role in the creation and implementation of the BIRCWH Program

Joyce RudickJoyce 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 UNCThe 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 PROGRAMUNC BIRCWH PROGRAM

• Total # of BIRCWH awardees (2000 - 2010) 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 PROGRAMUNC 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 PROGRAMUNC BIRCWH PROGRAMMiscellaneous 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 PROGRAMUNC 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 ProgramThe BIRCWH Program

There are three features of the BIRCWH Program that our Scholars believe are critical to its success. They include:

• The mentorsmentors and the close mentor-mentee mentor-mentee relationshipsrelationships that develop

• The protected timeprotected time that is available to them

• The interdisciplinaryinterdisciplinary nature of the program

UNC BIRCWH PROGRAMUNC 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.