Research Career Development
The Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is one of 20 sites recognized nationwide and funded by the National Institutes of Health to be a Women’s Reproductive Health Research Career Development Center (WRHRCDC).
The long-term goal of the WRHRCDC at Northwestern University is to provide an outstanding research training program for the career development of obstetrician-gynecologists to become physician-scientists who can conduct advanced translational research and compete for federal funds. We have an outstanding group of mentors and reproductive research infrastructure at Northwestern University. The expertise of mentors spans placenta, fetus, pregnant mother, gestational diabetes, preterm labor, endometrium, implantation, endometriosis, endometrial cancer, myometrium, uterine leiomyomata, ovarian physiology, ovarian cancer, polycystic ovary syndrome and reproductive functions of pituitary and hypothalamus. These mentors have maintained an excellent track record in training MD-scientists in their laboratories or clinical facilities and will provide a wide variety of research opportunities to the WRHR Scholars. WRHR Scholars will have an opportunity to choose between highly competitive laboratories or clinical teams conducting research related to reproductive endocrinology-infertility, maternal-fetal medicine, gynecologic oncology and reproductive genetics.
Information for Potential Scholars
Salary & Expectations
WRHRCDC Scholar positions provide research and salary support at the level of assistant professor for a minimum of two years and up to five years. Individuals are expected to spend a minimum of 75 percent of full-time professional effort conducting research and research career development.
Eligibility Criteria
- MD or MD/PhD with completed residency (completed fellowship optional)
- No previous NIH independent research awards (R01, R03) or more than three years on a K award
- United States citizen, non-citizen national or permanent citizen with verification of legal admission
How to Apply
Scholar candidates and their selected mentor will prepare an application detailing prior research and educational experiences, proposed research project and a mentoring plan for the WRHRCDC. All applicants will be reviewed the advisory committee.
To apply, contact Serdar E. Bulun, MD, with a brief statement of research and career plans and a curriculum vitae or biosketch.
If selected as a WRHRCDC Scholar candidate, further application will include:
- Research plan, including hypothesis and specific aims
- NIH biosketch
- Three letters of recommendation: One letter must be from the candidate’s chair; two letters of reference may be from director of residency/fellowship training program, previous mentors or other physician and scientists familiar with the candidate’s qualifications
- Selected mentor’s name and research focus
If mentor is not approved; a NIH biosketch, research summary and list of current and past trainees will be required for review.
Current Mentors
To learn more information about these mentors, including federal funding, publications and research, please search Crisp database, Pubmed, and the Northwestern websites:
- Bulun, Serdar E., MD: Steroid biochemistry; estrogen biosynthesis; aromatase in endometriosis, leiomyomata and breast cancer; progesterone receptors in endometriosis and leiomyomas; COX-2 in endometrial cancer; use of aromatase inhibitors in the treatment of endometriosis and leiomyomata.
- Crawford, Susan E., MD: Angiogenesis in placenta and fetus
- Dunaif, Andrea, MD: Maternal-Fetal Medicine/ Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility/ Reproductive Genetics
- Goldberg, Erwin, MD: Genetic regulation of spermatogenesis; immunocontraception
- Hendrix, Mary, PhD: Ovarian and breast cancer
- Jameson, Larry, MD, PhD: Ambiguous genitalia, role of nuclear receptors in sex determination, role of nuclear receptors in gonadal development
- Levine, Jon, PhD: GnRH neuronal function, Molecular basis for GnRH pulsatility
- Linzer, Daniel, PhD: Placental function; action of placental hormones on fetal and maternal tissues
- Mayo, Kelly, PhD: Regulation of ovarian gene expression by pituitary gonadotropins
- Metzger, Boyd, MD: Diabetes and pregnancy, diagnosis and long-term health hazards of gestational and pregestational diabetes
- Peaceman, Alan, MD: Preterm labor, intrauterine growth retardation, diabetes and pregnancy
- Rodriguez, Gustavo, MD: Ovarian cancer biology, role of steroid hormones, oral contraceptives and progestins in the pathogenesis of ovarian cancer
- Turek, Fred, PhD: Hypothalamic function, circadian rhythms and regulation of reproductive function
- Stack, Sharon, PhD: Ovarian cancer, tumor biology, roles of matrix metalloproteinases in the pathogenesis and metastasis of ovarian cancer
Current Scholars
Our current WRHRCDC scholar is Emma Barber, MD.
