October 6, 2000

The generosity of an anonymous donor to the MGH Office for Women's Careers (OWC) will allow two more MGH female staff members to continue their research efforts while raising young children. Known as the Office for Women's Careers Faculty Development Awards, the grants recently were presented to Linda Duska, MD, of the MGH Vincent Gynecologic Oncology Division, and Wilma Wasco, PhD, of MGH Neurology.

At left: Linda Duska, MD, with Sarah, 6, Jessica, 4, and Jacob, 2.

The awards are similar to the Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards, which are two-year grants given to junior faculty women to help sustain their research productivity during the child-rearing years. The Faculty Development Awards are a one-time grant, however, whereas the Claflin Awards are given each year.

"It's very exciting to be able to contribute to the future of women in medicine," says Suzanne Metallo, associate director of the OWC. "While the awards are considered transitional funding, the impact they have in facilitating career continuity can be enormous."

Nancy Tarbell, MD, director of the OWC, adds: "Women are at a disadvantage in this profession because the point in their careers when they are making huge strides in their research so often coincides with wanting to have a family. Grants like this and the Claflin Awards can help them do both."

Right: Wilma Wasco, PhD, and son, Benjamin

Wasco, whose lab works on deciphering the mysteries of Alzheimer's disease, will most likely use the grant to hire a technician or postdoctoral fellow to aid in her research. "I have been working on discovering new proteins that may be linked to Alzheimer's and finding out how they interact with each other," she says. "The grant will help free up some of the time I was spending in the lab and will give me more time for administrative duties and time to spend with my son, Benjamin."

Duska will use the grant to pay for supplies and support a postdoctoral fellow to help with her study of endometrial cancer. "I applied for the award because I feel strongly about pursuing both my clinical career and basic research in women's cancers," says Duska. "The grant money will allow me to support a postdoctoral fellow who can help with the time pressures of getting it all done. As a full-time clinician and a mother of three, I often need to be in two places at one time. The grant will help me to assign the day-to-day data collection and experiments to someone else, so that I can use that time to design and oversee research, as well as spend time with my family."

For more information about these awards or the OWC, call 724-5229.