NIH ESTABLISHES 11 SPECIALIZED CENTERS OF RESEARCH ON WOMEN'S HEALTH

[Guest guest]

NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Office of the Director

http://www.nih.gov/icd/od/

Office of Research on Women's Health

http://www4.od.nih.gov/orwh/

NIH NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, October 28, 2002

BETHESDA, MARYLAND -- Eleven new Specialized Centers of

Research (SCOR) on Sex and Gender Factors Affecting

Women's Health have been established by the National

Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women's

Health (ORWH). Funding for the SCOR program will total

approximately $11 million per year for 5 years. The

specialized centers are co-funded by the National Institute

of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS),

the National Institute of Child Health and Human

Development, the National Institute of Diabetes and

Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National

Institutes on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of

Mental Health, and the National Institute of

Environmental Health Sciences, and the Food and

Drug Administration. The NIAMS will provide administrative

oversight for the centers.

" The SCOR initiative marks a great leap forward in the

NIH support for multidisciplinary research on women's

health, " said Dr. Vivian W. Pinn, Director of the ORWH.

" The ORWH frequently partners with NIH Institutes and

Centers to support women's health research. This, however,

is the first time we have had the resources to take the

lead in developing and funding a new research initiative

relating to women's health. "

The multidisciplinary nature of these centers will provide

opportunities for innovative approaches to research on the

role of sex- and gender-related health effects. The scope

of research to be undertaken by the SCORs is based on three

sources: the Institute of Medicine report, " Exploring

the Biological Contributions to Health: Does Sex Matter?; "

the ORWH publication, " An Agenda for Research on Women's

Health for the 21st Century; " and recommendations of

NIH Institutes and Centers.

The SCOR institutions were selected on the basis of having

at least three highly meritorious interdisciplinary research

projects that explore an important issue related to

sex/gender health differences. Individual projects must be

related by a common theme, which encompasses clinical and

basic research. An administrative unit at each institution

oversees coordination of the individual projects.

Research priority areas, including mental health,

reproductive health, pain disorders, and urinary tract

health, will be addressed by grantees of this new ORWH

initiative.

A list of institutions receiving awards under the SCOR

program, SCOR themes, and the name of the center director

is [shown at the end of this press release and is also

available as a WORD document] at:

<http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/oct2002/SCOR_Initiative.doc>.

The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) is a

component of the Office of the Director of the

National Institutes of Health (NIH). The ORWH serves as a

focal point for women's health research at NIH by

promoting, stimulating, and supporting efforts to improve

the health of women through biomedical and behavioral

research. ORWH works in partnership with the NIH institutes

and centers to ensure that women's health research is part

of the scientific framework at NIH and throughout the

scientific community. The NIH is an agency of the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services.

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Institutions Receiving NIH Grants Under the New SCOR Initiative: FY2002

Emory University: Pharmacology of anti-epileptic and psychotropic

medications during pregnancy and lactation, Zachary Stowe, M.D.

Medical University of South Carolina: Role of sex and gender

differences in substance abuse relapse, Kathleen Brady, M. D., Ph.D.

Northwestern University: Genes, androgens and intrauterine

environment in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), Dunaif, M.D.

University of California, Los Angeles: Sex and gender factors

in the pathophysiology of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and

interstitial cystitis (IC), Emeran Mayer, M.D.

University of California, San Francisco: Mechanisms underlying

female urinary incontinence, Jeanette Brown, M.D.

University of land: Sex differences in pain sensitivity,

Greenspan, Ph.D.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: Birth, muscle injury and

pelvic floor dysfunction, DeLancey, M.D.

University of Pittsburgh: Genetic and environmental origins

of adverse pregnancy outcomes, Gerald Schatten, Ph.D.

University of Washington: Mechanisms by which drug transporters

alter maternal and fetal drug exposure during pregnancy,

Jashvant Unadkat, Ph.D.

Washington University: Molecular and epidemiologic basis of

acute and recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI's) in women,

Hultgren, Ph.D.

Yale University: Sex, stress and cocaine addiction, Rajita Sinha, Ph.D.