The School of Medicine is the recipient of an NIH-sponsored Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) Program. The $2.1 million career-development program will provide mentored Ph.D and M.D. faculty with multidisciplinary training to ensure that they establish independent biomedical research careers in areas relevant to women's health and will create an environment that nurtures non-traditional interdisciplinary collaborations in focused and interactive research areas that are essential to improving the health of women. Established researchers will mentor junior faculty in one of four interacting areas of women's health:

• neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases and their disproportionate impact on females
• metabolic and nutrition- related syndromes and their repercussions on women
• cardiovascular science and its relationship to gender
• lifespan biology and transitions, such as early development, adolescence, and menopause, that bring unique risks to females

Interdisciplinary Women's Heath Research (IWHR) scholars in the BIRCWH program will devote a minimum of 75% of their professional time to women's health research studies and to developing an independent, federally-funded research program. The grant will provide 75% salary support for up to two years for Ph.D. scholars (maximum $75,000) and up to for three years for M.D. scholars (maximum $100,000). In addition, scholars will receive $10,000 for supplies and $1,000 for travel.