NIH Hosts BIRCWH Meeting

BIRCWH attendees pose for a photo, filling up a flight of stairs all the way to the first landing.

Principal investigators from 19 institutions join ORWH staff, director Dr. Janine Clayton and deputy director Dr. Vivian Ota Wang at the BIRCWH annual meeting.

The annual meeting of the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program, sponsored by the Office of Research on Women’s Health, was held on campus last month.

Keynote speaker Dr. Karen M. Freund, Sheldon M. Wolff professor and chair of the department of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and physician-in-chief at Tufts Medical Center, delivered the Ruth L. Kirschstein memorial lecture. In her talk, Freund emphasized that teamwork is more important than ever and advised junior BIRCWH investigators to “work with your current peers in all settings, because those current peers will become the future leaders … to promote the gains we make.”

Dr. Lindsey Criswell, director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, delivered the Legacy of Leadership lecture. She emphasized the importance of mentors, collaboration and work–life balance, and outlined NIH resources for junior BIRCWH investigators.