Program

The current RCMI will aid in the development an infrastructure for basic, clinical and translational research focused on women’s health and health disparities. Valerie Montgomery Rice, M.D., an established physician-scientist at Meharry, is the visionary behind the Center for Women Health Research, and sees it as the first national resource solely devoted to research on women of color.

Ayman Al-Hendy, M.D. Ph.D, is the Scientific Director of the Center. In addition to his own laboratory which specializes in women’s reproductive health, Dr. Al-Hendy also heads a team of newly recruited faculty who also focus on women’s health research. The long term goal of the women’s health research, supported by RCMI, is to bring together a critical intellectual mass to develop collaborative research teams in the areas of reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, molecular and behavioral neuroscience, and cancer.

There are three major areas of endeavor within the RCMI Program: Faculty recruitment, Pilot research projects and Core facilities.