1. The UIC College of Medicine (COM) is the largest and most diverse medical school in the nation and has,
through its Departments and Centers, a long established and strong commitment to research, service, and
training since its inception. With respect to research, recently UIC constructed a 300,000 square-foot,
$140,000,000 College of Medicine Research Building (COMRB). This state-of-the-art research facility has 120
modern laboratories, central facilities for instrumentation and other research support, and individual offices
for faculty. Research focused on reproductive biology is located on the first floor. The Clinical Research
Center (CRC) at UIC assists university researchers in the performance of investigations involving human
subjects or human biological samples in order to facilitate research and augment its scientific quality. The
GCRC is staffed by research nurses, laboratory technicians, and a biostatistician who are specifically trained in
the performance of research with human subjects.
2. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, UIC College of Medicine
The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology is recognized as a leading academic center, reflected in the
clinical service to women in the greater Chicago area, medical education, contribution to the literature, and
research funding from the federal government. The department includes 20 clinical faculty members: twelve
in the division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology, six in Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM), two in
Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (REI); and five PhD faculty members. Dr. Isabelle Wilkins, chair of
the department, is committed to supporting research, aided by the support of the dean of the School of
Medicine, Dr. Dimitri Azar.
The clinical arm of the Department serves a largely urban, underserved patient population. Patients are seen
primarily at The Center for Women’s Health housed in the 15,000 square foot, state-of-the-art Outpatient Care
Center (OCC) completed in 1999. The OCC is adjacent to the University of Illinois hospital, the academic offices
of the Department and the laboratories of the researchers. In fiscal year 2010, there were 37,629 outpatient
visits at the Center for Women’s Health at the OCC.
The Department puts a high premium on scholarly activity. Peer reviewed publications continue to
increase. NIH support for Departmental research remains stable despite the increasing competition for these
awards. There are 29 active, ongoing, IRB-approved human studies and one multi-center study being
conducted by departmental faculty. Of 25 faculty, thirteen are supported by NIH or other sources to conduct
research or to fund clinical/educational projects. In addition our trainees have active research studies being
conducted as well with are 5 IRB-approved fellow research projects, 9 IRB-approved resident research
projects, and two IRB approved medical student research projects. Central to the objectives of this application,
the Department maintains significant support from NIH to train scientists working in Women’s Health
Research.
The Department teaches 189 third-year medical students during 8-week rotations and 24 fourth-year medical
students elected to return to the Department for an additional 4-week rotation. The Department also directs
three fellowship programs for extensive training in Maternal Fetal Medicine, Family Planning, and a new
fellowship in Global Women’s Health. In addition, the Department has 7 residents in each of 4 years resulting
in the training of 28 residents annually. To further develop a formalized resident learning experience they
regularly attend a series of clinical conferences organized by the Department. At least one graduating resident
has entered a subspecialty Fellowship each year for the last 5 years.
3. The UIC National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health (CoE) and the Center for Research on Women
and Gender (CRWG)
The UIC Center for Research on Women and Gender (CRWG) and UIC National Center of Excellence in Women’s
Health (CoE) are the result of collaborative work among researchers from the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing,
Pharmacy, Allied Health, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Medicine, Social Work, the University Library, and the
School of Public Health. The CRWG/CoE has physical space that includes eleven offices with computers,
printers, a copier, and a conference room. Internal funding for the CRWG/CoE is over $500,000 per year in
sustainable university funds. The Center has leveraged over $32 million in external research funds for the
Center and its UIC partners over the past three years. These funds support faculty, staff, and research activities
related to the women’s health, culture and work.
CRWG efforts are focused on multidisciplinary, collaborative research, training and programs in the areas of
health, work, and culture, broadly defined. The CRWG is currently supported through the UIC Office of the
Provost and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. Center staff members are available to assist faculty
members in developing proposals, providing office support for grant writing and submission, and help with
fiscal management for funded grants. The director is Stacie Geller, PhD, professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
College of Medicine. Over the past 20 years, the CRWG has brought together a cadre of outstanding UIC and
visiting scholars from various disciplines to advance interdisciplinary research and scholarship related to
women and gender. In addition, the CRWG has provided leadership within UIC for Women in Science and
Engineering (WISE) and Women in Science and Engineering System Transformation (WISEST) programs to
heighten awareness about the challenges that women experience in the engineering and natural science
disciplines, and their needs for support. These programs are oriented toward both students and faculty.
The administrative home for the UIC National Center of Excellence in Women's Health (CoE) is within CRWG.
The UIC CoE is one of only 20 academic health centers in the country funded by the Department of Health and
Human Services, and it is the only CoE in Illinois. The CoE is structured with four cores: Clinical Services,
Research, Curriculum and Professional Development, and Community Partnerships. There also is an
Evaluation working group that cuts across the core areas.
The Center integrates biomedical expertise with a grass-roots women's health vision and emphasizes
partnerships across disciplines and professions, between academic researchers and local communities, and
between health care providers and patients. Major goals for the CoE include implementing a strategic
multidisciplinary research agenda relevant to informing health care delivery, training research scientists for
proficiency in multidisciplinary women's health research, and expanding multidisciplinary care for women in a
one-stop shopping model within the UIC Medical Center’s Outpatient Care Center. Reducing barriers to care for
under-served urban women, performing ongoing evaluation of services, building on existing women's health
curricula with collaboration across disciplines, and promoting leadership for women in medicine are also goals.
Further objectives encompass educating and training community women for health roles, promoting dialogue
with women from diverse communities, disseminating health information, and participating in policy
discussions at all levels.
4. Clinical Resources and Patient Populations
University of Illinois Medical Center (UIMC) encompasses the University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics in
Chicago and the area’s largest group of physicians at one location, with over 600 primary care physicians and
specialists. UIMCC provides health care to more than a quarter of a million people in the Chicago area, and is
the state's major public medical center. UIMCC includes a modern 507-bed hospital and a new state-of-the-art
outpatient surgery center with 10 primary care and specialist centers and more than 440,000 patient visits
each year. UIMCC hospital and clinics lead research, education, and patient care in the U.S. in a diverse array of
fields related to clinical practice including medical education and women’s health. Its mission is to support
essential research and teaching functions of the academic units of the University’s Health Sciences Center.
Center for Women’s Health (CWH) is the clinical care site for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
and the Center of Excellence (CoE). This center serves predominantly low-income women of color, most of
whom receive Medicaid. Patients reflect the greater Chicago community, with 40% African American and 22%
Latina patients. The CWH offers the full spectrum of women’s health and reproductive health services
UIC Adolescent Clinic.
The Adolescent Clinic uses a comprehensive care model in which girls and young women aged 12 to 21 can
receive care from a pediatrician, gynecologist, and a psychiatry fellow as needed. Clinic providers are specially
qualified to address the needs of adolescent girls at this stage of their lives.
UIC Family Planning Services
The Center for Reproductive Health is the primary clinical site for family planning services at UIC. It provides a
full range of reproductive health services to women. This service has the dual and equally important roles of:
(1) providing evidence-based, compassionate family planning clinical services to patients; and (2) training
fellows, residents, and medical students about comprehensive family planning services. This clinic serves the
UIC community, as well as the surrounding communities which are primarily Latino and African-American
under- or uninsured. The Center is coordinated by the Section of Family Planning within the department of
Obstetrics and Gynecology, and provides training for its residents and family planning fellows. This fellowship
was initially founded in 2000, and was the first such fellowship program in Chicago. The Family Medicine
department also coordinates a residency training program within this clinic.