May 31, 2002

Claflin Awards support career advancement for women faculty

Medical research can be a demanding career for anyone, but for women faculty the demand can be especially challenging when combined with the role of motherhood. In recognition of the obstacles women researchers face during their child-rearing years, the MGH has developed a variety of resources — among them the annual Claflin Awards, facilitated by the MGH Office for Women's Careers.

Nancy J. Tarbell, MD, director of the Office for Women's Careers, left, with Jane Claflin

This year, seven MGH junior faculty members were honored as recipients of the 2002 Claflin Distinguished Scholar Awards: Marie Classon, PhD, Cancer Center; Judy Wei Ming Hung, MD, Department of Medicine; Robyn S. Klein, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine; Gina Kuperberg, MD, PhD, Psychiatry; Andrea Reid, MD, Department of Medicine; Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, Department of Medicine; and Sabine Wilhelm, PhD, Psychiatry.

In 1993, the Women in Academic Medicine Committee, originally chaired by honorary trustee Jane Claflin, was established to help support the academic careers of women in science at the MGH. Recognizing that a significant obstacle to career advancement was the difficulty of maintaining research productivity during child-rearing years, the committee, with the sponsorship of the Executive Committee on Research (ECOR), established the Claflin Awards in honor of Jane Claflin.

The purpose of the award is to provide bridge funding for junior faculty to sustain research productivity while tending to family responsibilities. The transitional funding is intended to increase opportunities for women to advance to senior positions in academic medicine. The Claflin Award is a two-year, $30,000 per year grant, which may be used to hire a technician, postdoctoral fellow or graduate student. When the Claflin Awards were first established in 1997, there only were two recipients per year, but with the program's proven success during the past five years, ECOR and the MGH funded a total of seven winners this year.

For more information about the Claflin Awards, contact Rebecca Starr in the OWC at (617) 724-3693.