Applications are not currently being accepted for BIRCWH scholars.

Please be aware of the following requirements when considering your application to the BIRCWH Program. At the time of the award, candidates must:

1. Have a doctoral degree in a discipline relevant to women's health research (e.g. MD, PharmD, DVM, DDS or PhD in such fields as nursing, social work, epidemiology, psychology, sociology, and biostatistics).
2. Have completed any postgraduate training, including clinical or postdoctoral fellowship training, or residency leading to clinical certification.
3. Identify mentors with extensive women's health research experience.
4. Be US citizens or non-citizen nationals, or lawfully admitted for permanent residence. (Non US citizens or individuals on temporary or student visas are not eligible)
5. Be able to commit 75% of full-time professional effort in BIRCWH career development activities, which includes the core and tailored curriculum, research training, mentoring, career planning, your research project and other related activities/events.
6. Must not currently be or previously have been a Principal Investigator on a mentored career development grant (K-series) or with substantial independent funding (e.g., R01, P01, P50) or other equivalent research grants. Small grant funding is permissible (e.g., R03, R21).

Note: There is no limit on time elapsed since completion of training; however, at the time of application, scholars cannot have more than six years of research training experience beyond their last doctoral degree.

The BIRCWH program will fund 75% of your salary, up to a maximum of $75,000.00/year. Your department and/or college must cover any difference in your salary for the 75% effort if it exceeds this amount. The dean of each health college who has a scholar admitted to the program will be asked to contribute $20,000 annually towards career development funds in support of their scholar.

The BIRCWH Program will support research career development of junior faculty members who are engaged in basic, translational, behavioral, clinical and/or health services research relevant to women's health. The goal of this initiative is to promote the performance of interdisciplinary research and transfer of findings that will benefit the health of women, including sex/gender similarities or differences in biology, health or disease.

This research should be directly related to the health of women, to improve the health of women, to strengthen and enhance research related to disease, disorders and conditions that affect women.

For additional information regarding women’s health, please visit:
Office of Research on Women’s Health
National Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
http://orwh.od.nih.gov

For further information about the UIC BIRCWH program, please contact:
 Abby Koch, BIRCWH Project Coordinator
312-413-7817
abbykoch@uic.edu