As a self-supporting center, WHRY continues to succeed in advancing the study of sex and gender differences and, in turn, improves the study and practice of medicine for the benefit of all people.
Yet another reason for the center’s longevity lies in the careful, deliberate way in which it has widened the scope of its research and added programs to advance its mission.
In the beginning, WHRY Director Carolyn M. Mazure, Ph.D., focused research grants on studies of adults. Over time, those research grants came to include adolescents and younger girls. The formula WHRY followed then and now — start something important, do it well, and then do more — holds today.
That philosophy also guided the center’s approach to its mentored training programs. In part with the help of multiyear grants from the National Institutes of Health, WHRY prepared graduate students and junior faculty members for careers in women’s health and sex/gender research. The graduates of this program have gone on to obtain significant research positions to further this crucial work at Yale and at other institutions.
Once WHRY established a program to train graduates and junior faculty, the center began its Undergraduate Fellowship, a hands-on mentoring program providing a “scientific home” for students to explore subjects in women’s health research under the tutelage of Yale faculty. Starting three years ago with five students, the program has expanded to encompass a total of 16 fellowships.
Through careful planning and judicious expansion, WHRY has been able to enlarge its vision, reach, and influence in each of its 20 years. That particular combination — vision, reach, and influence — explains why WHRY has earned the dedication of thoughtful and generous donors who see the value and results and are determined to help us do even more.
With my thanks to all who have brought us to this point and who will, now, take WHRY into its future,
Barbara M. Riley Philanthropy Chair