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Medical ProfessionalsCareer Development AwardDr. Stanley C. Marinoff Vulvodynia Career Development AwardThe Dr. Stanley C. Marinoff Vulvodynia Career Development Award was established to encourage medical professionals to pursue a clinical and/or academic interest in vulvodynia. The purpose of the award is to provide seed money for one of the following: (i) medical research, (ii) the establishment or enhancement of a vulvar pain clinic, or (iii) a written publication on vulvodynia. The NVA's intent is to encourage a medical professional's interest in this field and enable him/her to pursue further clinical or academic opportunities. The award is open to all medical and allied health care professionals. If the applicant is affiliated with a university, he/she can have a clinical or full-time faculty appointment up to the level of assistant professor. Announcements of funding availability are made annually in August. If you are interested in receiving these announcements, please email Chris Veasley. To date, awards have been made to the following recipients: Gina Anderson, MD – New Jersey Medical School
E. Cristian Campian, MD - Saint Thomas Health Services (Nashville, TN)
Yaniv Farajun, MD - Western Galilee Hospital (Israel)
Catherine Leclair, MD – Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
Ruby Nguyen, PhD - Minnesota's School of Public Health Beri Ridgeway, MD - Cleveland Clinic The National Vulvodynia Association is a nonprofit organization that strives to improve women's lives through education, support, advocacy and research funding. The NVA is not a medical authority and strongly recommends that you consult your own health care provider regarding any course of treatment or medication. Last Updated on February 2, 2012 |
Dr. Anderson is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and women’s health at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (Newark) and will use the award to establish a Vulvar Pain Clinic at the New Jersey Medical School in Newark. This clinic will serve a population of predominantly low-income, minority women, currently an unmet need in the community. In addition, the clinic will provide a setting for training medical students and residents in the evaluation and management of patients with vulvar pain conditions. As part of her effort, Dr. Anderson will establish a patient database, which she hopes will foster clinical research studies among this patient population and lead to collaborative efforts with other academic centers.
Dr. Campian is a fellow in urogynecology and pelvic reconstructive surgery at Saint Thomas Health Services in Tennessee. He will use his NVA award, which has been matched by Baptist Hospital in Nashville, to establish a multidisciplinary vulvar pain clinic at Saint Thomas Health Services’ Center for Pelvic Health, the largest pelvic pain clinic serving mid-Tennessee, southern Kentucky and northern Alabama. In addition to improving women’s access to specialized clinicians in the region, Dr. Campian’s long-term goal is to collaborate with other vulvar pain centers in applying for research funding from the National Institutes of Health. In an effort to promote earlier diagnosis and timely treatment, he intends to lecture on vulvar pain to primary care physicians. This vulvar pain clinic opened in April 2009 and women interested in making an appointment can call 615-284-4664 or visit: 
Dr. Farajun, a third-year medical resident, will use his NVA award, matched by the Chief Scientist Fund of the Israeli Ministry of Health, to evaluate the effectiveness of an anticoagulant drug, enoxaparin, in treating vulvar vestibulitis syndrome (VVS). Enoxaparin, a form of the drug heparin, inhibits the action of the enzyme heparanase. In a prior study, Dr. Jacob Bornstein found that heparanase was present in the vestibular tissue of women with VVS, but not in the control group. Dr. Farajun proposes that heparanase, which is released by mast cells, may play a role in the etiology of the condition, degrading the vestibular tissue and allowing nerve fibers that sense pain to penetrate the skin’s surface. In the current study, participants will self-administer daily injections of enoxaparin into the abdomen, which will inhibit heparanase action and also exert an anti-inflammatory effect. This study will add to our understanding of the etiology of VVS and test a potential new treatment for the condition.
Dr. Leclair is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and clinician in the vulvar health program at OHSU. In collaboration with OHSU colleague Dr. Martha Goetsch, she will use this award to investigate a hormonal influence in the etiology of vulvar vestibulitis. The study is designed to quantify differences in estrogen and progesterone receptor density and assess accompanying nociceptors (nerve receptors responsible for sensation of pain) and nerve fiber density in vulvar vestibulitis patients. Drs. Leclair and Goetsch will (i) compare tissue samples from painful and non-tender sites of the vestibule, and (ii) compare tissue samples from vestibulitis patients to those of an asymptomatic group of women. If their study finds a relationship between hormone receptor density and nerve distribution in the vestibule, it would justify further localized tissue research and the development of local therapies for VVS patients.
Ruby Nguyen, PhD, is an assistant professor in the division of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health. To date, researchers have not investigated how pregnancy and childbirth affect the severity of vulvodynia, leaving obstetricians without guidelines for vulvodynia patients who are, or want to become, pregnant. Dr. Nyugen will use her award to conduct a prospective study of 160 pregnant women, half of whom suffer from vulvodynia. At each trimester and two months postpartum, these women will complete questionnaires on vulvar pain intensity and factors that can modify pain levels, including vulvovaginal infection, dermatological conditions, vulvar varicosities, mode of delivery and episiotomy/tear with vaginal childbirth. She will assess whether pregnant women with vulvodynia experience a change in vulvar pain severity or remission of symptoms over the course of pregnancy or postpartum period and/or have an increased risk of developing postpartum vulvovaginal pain.
Dr. Ridgeway is a fellow in female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery at The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. With her NVA award and matching funds from her institution, Dr. Ridgeway will investigate the efficacy of the anticonvulsant pregabalin (Lyrica) in the treatment of vulvodynia. Pregabalin has been shown to be effective in the treatment of other chronic pain disorders such as post-herpetic neuralgia, diabetic neuropathy and fibromyalgia. Dr. Ridgeway's primary objective is to determine whether, and to what extent, pregabalin relieves pain in women suffering from either generalized vulvodynia or vulvar vestibulitis syndrome. In addition, she will assess the medication's tolerability and its effect on quality of life. Dr. Ridgeway's aim is to add to the growing body of evidence-based literature on treatment efficacy, so women and their health care providers can make more informed treatment decisions.