Women’s Reproductive Health Research Career Development Center (WRHRCDC)

In 2005, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University was one of 20 Ob/Gyn sites recognized nationwide and funded by the National Institutes of Health to be a Women’s Reproductive Health Research Career Development Center. The funding for this award is through 2015.

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, endometruim, 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.

WRHRCDC Scholar Candidates

WRHRCDC 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.

WRHR 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% of full-time professional effort conducting research and research career development.

Eligibility requirements:

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:
Contact Dr. Serdar E. Bulun via email at s-bulun@northwestern.edu with the following information:

Brief statement of research and career plans
Curriculum vitae or biosketch

If selected as a WRHRCDC Scholar candidate, further application will include:

Research plan, including hypothesis and specific aims
NIH biosketch
3 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 Leadership

Principal Investigator:       Sharon L. Dooley, MD, MPH
                                              Albert B. Gerbie Professor
                                              Interim Chair
                                              Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Program Director:             Serdar Bulun, MD
                                              George H. Gardner Professor
                                              Division Chief, Reproductive Biology Research
                                              Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology

Currently Approved Northwestern University WRHRCDC Mentors
Senior scientists outside this list may serve as WRHRCDC mentors. Each mentor will need to be approved by the NIH prior to start of the research project.

Faculty	Research Area
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
Elias, Sherman, MD	Prenatal diagnosis of fetal genetic disorders; Isolation of fetal cells and DNA from maternal blood; amniocentesis; clinical cytogenetics
Goldberg, Erwin, MD	Genetic regulation of spermatogenesis; immunocontraception
Hendrix, Mary, PhD	Ovarian and breast cancer
Hirsch, Emmet, MD	Preterm labor, role of infection/inflammation in preterm labor, differential gene regulation in preterm labor
Hunzicker-Dunn, Mary, PhD	Follicular differentiation, ovulation, corpus luteum formation, FSH/LH-dependent cell signaling, PCOS
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
Woodruff, Teresa, PhD	Ovarian folliculogenesis, inhibins and activins, signal transduction in the ovary, Inhibins and activins in ovarian cancer biology

To learn more information about these mentors, including federal funding, publications and research, please search Crisp database, Pubmed, and the Northwestern websites.

Currently Approved Northwestern University WRHRCDC Scholars:

Erica Marsh, MD

Dr. Erica Marsh attended Harvard University for college where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, magna cum laude. She continued at Harvard for her medical degree, where she graduated cum laude in 2001. Dr. Marsh completed her residency at the Integrated Program in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital in 2005. Dr. Marsh then completed her Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility fellowship at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in 2008. She also received a Masters of Science in Clinical Investigation (MSCI) at that time. Dr. Marsh is in the second year of her WRHR fellowship. Dr. Serdar Bulun is her Mentor.

Dr. Marsh's primary research focus is uterine leiomyoma (fibroid) pathophysiology but she has a broad interest in racial disparities in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. She has published numerous articles, reviews and book chapters in the areas of leiomyomas and reproductive endocrinology. She believes that leiomyomas require a 360 degree approach as a disease state and is hence involved in both clinical and basic science research initiatives on these prevalent tumors. Dr. Marsh is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Friends of Prentice, Northwestern University and Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The best way to reach Dr. Marsh is via e-mail at erica-marsh@northwestern.edu.

Mary Ellen Pavone, MD, MSCI

Dr. Mary Ellen Pavone received her MD from Bost University School of Medicine in 2003, completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Johns Hopkins in 2007, and a fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Northwestern in 2010. During her fellowship, Dr. Pavone received Master of Science in Clinical Investigation. Dr. Pavone’s research project focuses on theretinoic acid signaling cascade in endometrium and endometriosis. Her mentor is Dr. Serdar Bulun.

WRHRCDC Administration Contact Information:
Ponda Barnes
303 E. Superior St., 4-121
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 503-0515
p-barnes@northwestern.edu