Microvascular Aging and Eicosanoids-Women's Evaluation of Systemic Aging Tenacity ("You are never too old to become younger!") Specialized Center of Research Excellence on Sex Differences Career Enhancement Core: Building the Future

Abstract

The objective of the National Institutes of Health Office of Research in Women's Health (NIH/ORWH) Specialized Center of Research and Career Enhancement (SCORE) program is to expedite the development and application of new knowledge that affect women, to learn more about the etiology of these diseases, and to foster improved approaches to treatment and/or prevention. Each SCORE has a Career Enhancement Core (CEC) that serves to meet the career enhancement needs of translational science in the study of sex differences. The Microvascular Aging and Eicosanoids-Women's Evaluation of Systemic aging Tenacity (MAE-WEST) ("You are never too old to become younger!") Specialized Center of Research Excellence (SCORE) on Sex Differences will study pro- and anti-inflammatory responses and small vessel aging traits. As part of our SCORE CEC, we have advanced several initiatives to embed consideration of sex as a biological variable (SABV) into the infrastructure of our two CEC institutions. Unlike other professions, ongoing physician education through continuing medical education (CME) activities is required and embedded in the practice of medicine. The MAE-WEST SCORE in collaboration with the CSMC Clinical Scholars Program, the Center for Research in Women's Health and Sex-differences and the CSMC CME Office requires SABV and as Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion components in all CSMC CME programs. Clinical practice is also increasingly guided by evidence-based guidelines, with Class I recommendations resulting from clinical trials rather than expert consensus. It is essential that women be included in clinical trials proportionate to the prevalence and burden of disease. The MAE-WEST SCORE has developed our own unique CEC for providing novel educational, networking, funding opportunities, and translation to practice support. The developed best practices have found novel ways to enhance studies of women's health and SABV. We welcome visitors on-site and virtual to share with the broader academic and practicing community.

Keywords: Career Enhancement Core; SCORE; Sex as a Biological Variable.

FIG. 1.

MAE-WEST SCORE CEC. Inter-related programs at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the UCSD. CEC, Career Enhancement Core; MAE-WEST, Microvascular Aging and Eicosanoids-Women's Evaluation of Systemic aging Tenacity; SCORE, Specialized Center of Research Excellence; UCSD, University of California, San Diego.

FIG. 2.

Causal diagrams. (A) Sex is a confounding covariate. (B) Sex is a stratification covariate. (C) Sex interacts with the treatment effect.

FIG. 3.

Consequences of ignoring a qualitative interaction example. SCORE CEC Curriculum. Assisting investigators with career development and mentoring has the greatest impact on early research career success.