The Dr. Stanley C. Marinoff Vulvodynia Career Development Award was established in 2006 to encourage interested faculty to pursue their clinical and/or academic interest in vulvodynia. It provides seed money for either medical research, writing of a publication on vulvodynia or the organization or enhancement of a vulvar pain clinic. The NVA’s intent is to enrich the professional growth of faculty members in this field and enable them to pursue further funding opportunities.  Applicants must have any clinical or full-time faculty appointment up to the level of assistant professor.  Announcements of funding availability are made annually in January.  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
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.

Catherine Leclair, MD – Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
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.