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 and Dean of Medicine 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.

Stella Nowicki, D.D.S. is the Scientific Director of the Center. Dr. Nowicki will take on the responsibility for filling three additional faculty positions supported by the RCMI Program and for bringing together a critical intellectual mass to develop collaborative research teams in the areas of HIV/AIDS, molecular and behavioral neuroscience, cancer, and reproductive health, --all focusing on research to improve the health of minority women.

There are four major areas of endeavor within the RCMI Program: administration, faculty recruitment, core facilities and pilot research projects. The four cores currently under development or expansion within the Center for Women's Health Research will include facilities related to Behavioral Research, Endocrinology, Exercise and Nutrition, and Radiology.