Nebraska Center for Women's Health Research

NIH Fact Sheets on Women's Health Research

The Office of Research on Women's Health recently launched a new resource titled NIH Fact Sheets on Women’s Health Research, which provides health and disease data on women. The fact sheets include relevant discussions on how sex and gender differences and female-specific considerations may play a role in the health of women.
 
The fact sheets outline the state of the science for women’s health on autoimmune diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease, dementia, HIV, maternal morbidity and mortality, menopause, mental health, substance use disorder, violence against women, and trauma for women’s health. These health and disease topics were chosen because they align with key issues of morbidity and mortality for women. The data presented are accompanied by health- and disease-specific discussions. The fact sheets analyze scientific gaps and opportunities for further study. Current NIH activities related to each topic, including active projects, programs, collaborations, and initiatives, are highlighted.
 
The fact sheets characterize the women’s health research landscape and identify opportunities for new research strategies to address women’s health topics. The goal of this resource is to promote an interdisciplinary research agenda and champion a multifaceted approach to women’s health priority topics.

Mission

The mission of the Nebraska Center for Women’s Health Research is “To become a state-wide and nationally recognized center of excellence in Women’s Health Research and thereby reduce healthcare costs in the state of Nebraska through innovative collaborative research, premier education programs, top-notch quality patient care and outreach to Nebraska’s women."

The establishment of the Center will promote multidisciplinary women’s health research activities at the University of Nebraska to prevent, diagnose, and treat women’s health issues (infertility, preterm birth, osteoporosis, cancers, menopause, cardiovascular disease, mental health, and health disparities). The Center will provide the leadership, mentoring, and infrastructure necessary to build upon established research excellence to impact the next stage of development through early career faculty development and high-impact discoveries.  This will be realized by facilitating broad areas of scientific investigation and cross-disciplinary science. While the foundations are in play, the successful integration of efforts and development of critical research areas would place research in women’s health at the national forefront. This can be achieved by broad-based and technically interactive science.  The overarching goal is to bring the Center to the next level, bridging existing research efforts into new directives in basic and applied research using relevant models and clinical research.      

Furthermore, the Center will offer interdepartmental education programs for training world-class research basic and physician-scientists in translational research in the realm of pressing needs in women’s health. Special emphasis will be placed on training the next generation of young scientists in the areas of infertility, preterm birth, osteoporosis, gynecologic cancers, menopause, cardiovascular disease, mental health, and health disparities.  While there is no formal education curriculum, the proposed activities of the center include mentoring activities that include training residents, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty to embark on independent research careers, hosting seminar series, seed grants, and providing networking platforms with leaders in the field. This, in turn, will result in attracting and maintaining high-caliber scientists, which is vital for the growth of the Center. Training residents and clinical faculty in the fields of basic and translational science will bridge the clinical and basic science chasm.