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NIH names MUSC Center for Gender Research Men and women don't always display the same symptoms for the same diseases, nor do they always require the same treatment and recovery time. For those reasons, MUSC researchers are studying the role that gender plays in health care.   The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) announced that MUSC was named one of 11 new or continuing Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) on Sex and Gender Factors Affecting Women's Health awards. Funding for  SCOR will total approximately $11 million per year for five years. MUSC will receive approximately $8 million for  SCOR.   The interdisciplinary nature of these centers will provide opportunities for new approaches to research on sex/gender related health effects. The specialized centers were selected on the basis of having at least three high quality interdisciplinary research projects that explore an important issue related to sex/gender health differences.   Kathleen Brady, M.D., Ph.D., MUSC professor and director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, will oversee research of sex and gender differences in substance abuse relapse.   The specialized centers are co-funded by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes on Drug Abuse, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.   MUSC has also been recognized by ORWH and other co-sponsors as one of 15 Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) programs receiving more than $7 million nationwide. This is a new award for MUSC.   The award, also steered by Brady, expands an innovative effort to foster career development in women’s health research with an emphasis on interdisciplinary mentoring in scientific environments such as MUSC. By increasing the number of qualified researchers in the field of gender differences across disciplines, gender disparities that currently exist in patient care could be significantly decreased.   To date, almost 300 scholars nationwide have been mentored regarding research techniques and skills to become independent investigators and mentors themselves. By developing scientists in this way, they can become independently funded researchers who are free to advance a team approach across disciplines in terms of sex and gender-specific health care principles and practices.   Combined, the awards will bring more than $12 million to MUSC during the next five years.   “Together these endeavors will help us to get a strong foot-hold in the area of multidisciplinary research in the area of women’s health at MUSC so we can come up with innovative solutions to the unique health problems and challenges faced by women,” Brady said.   The BIRCWH initiative, which is administered by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is co-sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in addition to the following NIH Institutes and Offices: NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and the National Institute of Mental Health.     Friday, Oct. 26, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.