Kentucky BIRCWH Program: Training the Next Generation of Women's Health Scholars

描述（由申请人提供）：肯塔基大学（英国）具有独特的地位，将继续使用卓越的研究基础设施来培养下一代妇女健康学者。我们选择将奖学金的重点放在肯塔基州阿巴拉契亚地区独有的健康挑战上。由于阿巴拉契亚地区受到毒品滥用、暴力和健康状况不佳的严重影响，我们将积极让居住在肯塔基州阿巴拉契亚地区的妇女参与我们的研究议程，在社区和研究人员之间进行双向研究。这种方法将继续为我们的BIRCWH学者提供最先进的多学科培训，从而使他们在NIH独立资助下成为教师。在这项申请中，旨在改善妇女健康的重点领域包括：1)药物滥用；2)对妇女的暴力行为；3)妇女一生中的荷尔蒙调节。英国在解决针对妇女的暴力问题上处于独特的地位，因为英国拥有唯一一个专注于预防针对妇女的暴力研究的美国中心。通过这一妇女和妇女健康方案，加强妇女健康研究的能力将实现以下具体目标：1)提供环境，指导和设施，以提高BIRCWH学者在妇女健康研究的不同领域竞争NIH研究资助的能力；2)加深我们对性别在健康和疾病表现中的独特作用的理解；3)在重点，跨学科和互动的研究领域激发新的合作，这些研究领域对健康至关重要

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of Kentucky (UK) is uniquely positioned to continue using exceptional and outstanding research infrastructure to train the next generation of women's health scholars. We choose to focus our scholarship efforts on those health challenges unique to Appalachian Kentucky. Because the Appalachian region is disproportionately affected by drug abuse, violence, and poor health, we will actively engage women living in Appalachian Kentucky in our research agenda with research flowing bidirectionally between communities and researchers. This approach will continue to provide our BIRCWH scholars with state-of-the-art multidisciplinary training leading to their development as faculty with independent NIH funding. The focused areas targeted towards improving women's health in this application include: 1) substance abuse, 2) violence against women, and 3) hormonal regulation across a woman's lifespan. UK is uniquely position to address violence against women because UK has the only US Center focusing on research to prevent violence against women. Through this BIRCWH program, strengthening the capacity for women's health research will be accomplished by the following Specific Aims: 1) to provide the environment, mentorship, and facilities to enhance the ability of BIRCWH scholars to compete for NIH research grants in diverse areas of women's health research, 2) to deepen our understanding of the unique role of gender in the manifestation of health and disease, 3) to stimulate new collaborations in focused, interdisciplinary, and interactive research areas that are essential for improving women's health; and 4) to use a thematic multidisciplinary focus as a platform for enhancing translational research between basic, clinical and public health scientists. Key aspects of training will include: (a) pairing the BIRCWH scholar with senior level scientists and former BIRCWH scholars forming a research team and thus modeling interdisciplinary collaboration, (b) providing these teams with access to cutting edge technologies, and (c) providing scholars with training in concepts relevant to women's health. A strength of our BIRCWH program is its multidisciplinary, cross-departmental, and interactive nature positioned in an area with unique health needs. As evident by the success of our former BIRCWH scholars, we are well positioned to continue the tradition of excellence in mentoring our scholars to become independent researchers in women's health. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Emphasizing gender differences in effective health care research and treatment is critical. We must train the next generation of scientists to recognize and apply these differences. This proposal will provide a platform to mentor and train promising young scientists in focused areas of women's health research to address the unique needs in women's health especially for those who are underserved.