Abstracts from the NIH Office of Research on Women's HealthTenth Annual Interdisciplinary Women's Health Research SymposiumOctober 24, 2013

Abstract

The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) initiated its signature research and career development programs in women's health based on a paradigm that views interdisciplinary approaches as essential to moving forward the science associated with women's health and to increasing understanding of the contributions of sex and gender factors to human health and disease. From the beginning it was hoped that supporting interdisciplinary research efforts and building a cadre of interdisciplinary women's health researchers would help to reduce the fragmented approach to women's health issues and encourage more comprehensive, integrated approaches to women's health and new ways of evaluating those who conduct such research. ORWH supports innovative ways to encourage collaborative, interdisciplinary research that is team based to improve women's health through two major initiatives, the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program and the Specialized Centers of Research (SCOR) on Sex Differences. The BIRCWH program was first funded in 2000, and the SCOR center was first funded in 2002. Both programs were expanded in fiscal year 2012 as part of the implementation of the 2010 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Strategic Plan for Women's Health Research, A Vision for 2020 for Women's Health Research (http://orwh.od.nih.gov/resources/policyreports/index.asp).