-- Department of Environmental Medicine --
Women's Health and the Environment over the Entire Lifespan (WHEEL)
An NIH funded Junior Faculty Training Program Exposure to environmental chemicals, such as BPA, lead and mercury, can affect males and females differently, often by acting on hormonal systems. The WHEEL training program is built around this concept, and will support new and promising scientists interested in pursuing a research career in environmental health, particularly how it pertains to women's health The WHEEL program provides salary and research support for junior faculty members for up to three years, with possible renewal for up to two additional years. It includes a structured curriculum of courses, mentoring, research, and grantsmanship that can be tailored to scholars’ individual needs. |
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The WHEEL program is funded by the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program from The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) and other co-sponsors. BIRCWH is an innovative effort to foster career development in women's health research with an emphasis on innovative interdisciplinary mentoring across a variety of disciplines. The emphasis of the WHEEL program is on exposure to environmental chemicals. This program contributes to BIRCHW by developing a cadre of independently funded scientists, both men and women, who can further advance and perpetuate an interdisciplinary team approach to science and sex/gender specific health care principles, with a focus on environmental health. |
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WHEEL Program Administration | ||||
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WHEEL Program P.I. Dr. Deborah Cory-Slechta is the Principle Investigator of NIH funded WHEEL Training Program grant. Dr. Cory-Slechta’s research program includes both human and animal studies that focus on the impact of and mechanisms by which environmental chemicals impact the brain and behavior. Dr. Cory-Slechta is responsible for all aspects of the WHEEL program, including administrative oversight and the recruitment and career development of WHEEL scholars. |
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 WHEEL Program Director Dr. Edwin van Wijngaarden is WHEEL Program Director and assists Dr. Cory-Slechta with program oversight, in particular recruitment and career development of scholars. Dr. van Wijngaarden’s epidemiologic research has focused on the potential health effects of occupational and environmental exposures (primarily heavy metals, pesticides, and electromagnetic fields), in particular as they related to cognitive effects and neurologic disease. | ||||
WHEEL Advisory Board | ||||
 Dr. Kathy Hoeger |
 Dr. Paige Lawrence |
 Dr. David Rich |
 Dr. Sally Thurston |
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Each scholar will receive $100,000 per year. Up to $75,000 may be used for salary and fringe benefit costs and up to $17,000 may be used for research support costs (e.g. travel, supplies, tuition, statistical services, etc.). We encourage applications from minority and disabled candidates and will consider both internal and external candidates. Eligible applicants must: To apply, applicants will be asked to submit: 1. a cover sheet (see application form, word document or pdf) including the signature of their department chair 2. three letters of reference (including one from their residency director, dissertation advisor, or post-doctoral mentor) 3. a transcript (from medical school or a relevant PhD program) 4. a current NIH Biosketch 5. copies of published papers 6. a 3-5 page personal statement on how WHEEL would advance their career goals, including a description of how their research is connected to the research goals and objectives of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Generally, new scholar appointments will have start dates four times a year: January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1. Please apply no later than one month before your preferred start date. For additional guidance, please see our guidance sheet for applicants. For more information, or to apply, please contact Jena Tyra (585) 275-9126. |
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The WHEEL Curriculum | ||||
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The WHEEL curriculum is designed to meet the need of the individual scholar who will put together coursework pertinent to their background, career goals and objectives. The WHEEL program strongly encourages scholars to take advantage of the University of Rochester’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s Mentor Development Core Workshops and presentations. | ||||
WHEEL Trainees | ||||
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 Emily Barrett, Ph.D.Dr. Barrett is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and as a BIRCWH Scholar, her research will focus on how early environmental exposures affect female reproductive development. Dr. Barrett first became interested this topic during her doctoral work in Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. Her dissertation focused on understanding variation in reproductive function, particularly ovarian hormone levels, in relation to ecological factors including prenatal environment. She has since expanded her work to examine how prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals can shape subsequent reproductive development. To that end, she has worked on several large pregnancy cohort studies, including the National Children’s Study and the multi-center The Infant Development and the Environment Study (TIDES). As a BIRCWH scholar, Dr. Barrett will investigate these issues in several large existing cohorts including TIDES, the Study for Future Families, and the Women’s Reproductive Health Study (WRHS) and hopes to recruit for a new small-scale study as well. 
Danielle Benoit, Ph.D.Dr. Benoit is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering with a secondary appointment in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Rochester and is a Principal Investigator in the Center for Musculoskeletal Research at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. As a BIRCWH Scholar, her research will focus on development of polymer therapeutic strategies to treat patients suffering from lead-associated osteoporosis. Dr. Benoit first became interested in this topic during her doctoral work in Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado. Her dissertation focused on materials-based bone regenerative medicine approaches, exploiting three-dimensional hydrogel microenvironments to provide biochemical and soluble cues to mesenchymal stem cells, promoting osteogenic differentiation and enabling new bone evolution. She then expanded her research during a postdoctoral appointment in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, focusing on a systemic polymeric delivery system for nucleic acid drugs. As a BIRCWH Scholar, she will integrate facets of both of these training experiences and develop targeted polymeric delivery systems to locally deliver bone anabolic drugs that will circumvent lead-associated bone loss. |
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WHEEL Meetings and Presentations | ||||
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 Annual BIRCWH Meeting, Washington, D.C. November, 2011 Presentation by Dr. Edwin van Wijngaarden: Best Practices in Mentoring Dr. van Wijngaarden's presentation outlined resources available to WHEEL trainees and strategies used in the WHEEL program to mentor participants, including encouraging interdisciplinary work. |
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 2012 WHEEL Workshop, University of Rochester Medical Center Wednesday, September 12, 9:30am-1:30pm Whipple Auditorium 2-6424 This workshop provides a forum for both experts and new investigators to share research results that explore the biological basis for gender differences in health and disease, and associated implications for public health and medicine.
SPEAKERS Martha Blair, M.D. Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology and Physiology
Bernard Weiss, Ph.D. Professor of Environmental Medicine Emily Barrett, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Danielle Benoit, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering Douglas Portman, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biomedical Genetics and Biology Martha Blair, M.D. Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology and Physiology
Michael Sellix, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine |
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