NIH News Release
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
 National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, September 13, 1999		 Contact:
Robert Bock
(301) 496-5133

NIH Awards Additional Funding for New Researchers in Women's Reproductive Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $3.2 million to fund centers that will support early research careers in the field of obstetrics and gynecology. The centers--along with 12 centers funded last year--will provide universities and hospitals with the opportunity to build national programs for developing new investigators in women's health research.

The 8 new centers were funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), NIH's Office of Research on Women's Health, and the National Cancer Institute to help train the next generation of investigators in obstetrics and gynecology by giving clinicians the experience they need to become researchers. A news release on the funding of the original centers appears on the mass media page of the NICHD website at http://www.nih.gov/nichd, "Four Million Dollars Awarded for New Researchers in Women's Health."

"The addition of 8 new research centers continues the tradition of advancing women's health by training clinicians to conduct cutting-edge research," said Dr. Duane Alexander, Director of NICHD.

Once the new centers are established, research candidates will apply to them directly to participate in their research programs. Investigators with established research programs will serve as mentors and advisors at each of the centers.

The first 12 Centers have recruited 29 young investigators to date, at least two at each site. Their interests cover a wide range of topics in obstetrics and gynecology, including basic, clinical, behavioral, and epidemiological research. The new investigators have undertaken studies of pregnancy and its complications, cervical and ovarian cancers, implantation, infertility, hormone action, contraception, and disorders of the pelvic floor.

The NICHD is one of the Institutes comprising the National Institutes of Health, the Federal government's premier biomedical research agency. NICHD supports and conducts research on the reproductive, neurobiological, developmental, and behavioral processes that determine and maintain the health of children, adults, families, and populations. The NICHD website, www.nichd.nih.gov, contains additional information about the institute and its mission.