Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee (IAC)

The Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee (IAC) is made up of a multidisciplinary team of the University’s leading women’s health researchers and two external members.  There is at least one representative from each of the six health sciences schools, a representative from the College of Liberal Arts and the Institute for Child Development. The IAC will report to the PI and the Program Directors. 

Carole Bland, PhD, is Professor and Director for Clinical Research Fellowship in Family Medicine and the Vice Chair for Research and Faculty Affairs in the Department of Family Practice and Community Health.  Her research involves faculty and administrator development and productivity; higher education organization, personnel approaches, and governance; and educational design and evaluation.  She will also serve as the Mentoring Director for the BIRCWH. 

Linda Carson, MD, has been Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women’s Health since 2001.  Her research interests are vulvar and ovarian cancer, nutrition and cancer, and clinical trials for gynecological cancers.

Nicki Crick, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Institute of Child Development.  Her research focuses on relational aggression, a form of aggression that has been shown to be more characteristic of girls than are physical, overt forms.  (Also a primary mentor).

Bruce Cuthbert, PhD, is Professor of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts.  He came to the University of Minnesota in 2005 after serving for seven years as the Chief of the Adult Psychopathology and Psychosocial Intervention Research Branch at the NIMH.  The major aims of his research are to develop new psychophysiological models and measures of affective processes, and to apply these results to research directed at an improved understanding of mood and anxiety disorders. 

Bernard Harlow, PhD, is Head of the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health in the School Of Public Health and holds the Mayo Professorship of Public Health.  He has established a broad background in studies of female reproductive disorders.  His areas of interest include malignant and borderline ovarian tumors, uterine sarcomas, adverse obstetrical outcomes, premature menopause, and gynecological complications arising in women suffering from a variety of mood disorders.  (Also a primary mentor).

Alice Larson, PhD, is a Professor of Veterinary Biosciences in the College of Veterinary Medicine.  She is a basic scientist who has trained graduate students and postdoctoral fellows of many backgrounds, including several clinicians.  Her area of research is neuroscience, focusing on studies related to pain transmission.  Her current interest is defining the etiology of fibromyalgia, which appears to be a type of central hyperalgesia. 

Russell V. Luepker, MD, MS, is Mayo Professor of Public Health, Professor of Medicine, Director of Graduate Studies in Clinical Research, and Principal Investigator of UMN’s Roadmap K12 grant.  Dr. Luepker is a clinical researcher, covering the spectrum from observational studies in large free-living and hospitalized populations to classical clinical trials and community trials. 

Bryan Michalowicz, DDS, is an Associate Professor in Developmental and Surgical Sciences in the School of Dentistry.  Currently, he is researching the effects of periodontal therapy on preterm birth.  The major goal of this clinical trial is to determine if dental treatment of women with periodontitis can affect the incidence of preterm birth.

Elizabeth R. Seaquist, MD, is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, and Program Director of the GCRC.  She is a clinical research, focusing on studies of brain glucose metabolism in patients with diabetes and clinical trials of glucose control.  (Also a primary mentor).