A Letter from the Director
Jeanne-Marie Guise, MD, MPHJeanne-Marie Guise, MD, MPH

Welcome to the Oregon BIRCWH program! The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), established the BIRCWH program in 2002 to advance mentored research career development of junior faculty who will be engaged in interdisciplinary basic, behavioral, clinical, or health services research in women’s health. The Oregon BIRCWH program is dedicated to training tomorrow’s leaders in women’s health research.

Research can modify the course of disease at any point in a woman’s lifespan which will affect the rest of her lifelong development and aging. In recognition of this, the Oregon BIRCWH program supports the career development and training of junior faculty members involved in interdisciplinary research in women’s health across the lifespan.
 
The Oregon BIRCWH program fosters strong scholar-mentor relationships to develop productive interdisciplinary investigational careers in women’s health and sex and gender based medicine.  BIRCWH mentors are outstanding scientists with a strong commitment to interdisciplinary research and well-funded research programs who hold an impressive track record of training and developing the next generation of research scientists and leaders.

Interdisciplinary integration is inter-departmental and Center driven to enhance collaborations between scientists, clinicians, and trainees in the Center for Women’s Health,  Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI – OHSU-Kaiser CTSA program; Primate Research Center; Cancer Institute; the Center for Gender Based Medicine; and others, and to leverage sophisticated research technologies ranging from cellular and molecular biology to computer technologies and population research.  
It is my deepest privilege and honor to serve as BIRCWH program director. As a K12 graduate myself, I know the tremendous impact that mentored research, career development, support, nurturing, and collaboration can have to encourage junior faculty to pursue a career in women’s health research and promote productive careers as independent scientists.  

Thank you for your interest in our Program. We hope that our website will provide answers to your inquiries. If you have any other questions, please contact us: BIRCWH Director Jeanne-Marie Guise, MD, MPH at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  , or BIRCWH Program Administrator Tahroma Alligood, MPH at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 
Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health

The Oregon BIRCWH program at Oregon Health & Science University creates a stimulating and nurturing environment for junior faculty to develop into leading scientists in Women's Health. We provide a mentored scholarly research experience, including both salary support and protected time, which are absolutely essential to acheiving success in scientific inquiry. 

Our program's unifying theme is our emphasis on a lifespan approach and the importance of sex and gender based differences in the diagnosis and treatment of illness in women. Research that can identify and modify events related to health and disease at any one point in the lifespan of a woman will affect all dimensions of health throughout her lifespan. 

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