Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology

About

Our center includes basic, translational and clinical scientists who research reproductive and women’s health across the lifespan: from in utero development through menopause.
We provide an optimal environment for individuals who are interested in integrating clinical and basic sciences and have a strong desire to pursue a career in academic research. The overall mission of the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology (VCRB) is to conduct research that brings the power of cutting-edge laboratory methods to answering critical questions in women’s health. We are working to overcome historical neglect of reproductive and women’s health.

A major step in realizing this goal was achieved in June of 1995 with the formal creation of the VCRB - a state-of-the-art research facility developed to serve as the center of the scientific endeavors in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Since its inception, the VCRB has successfully nurtured the department's basic and translational research related to reproductive and women's health. We provide laboratory research opportunities for the department’s clinical fellowships: maternal-fetal medicine, female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, gynecologic oncology and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Our investigators have been funded by the National Institutes for Health (NIH), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, Department of Defense, Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, March of Dimes, Burroughs Wellcome Trust, Simons Foundation, Templeton Foundation and more.

VCRB investigators also partner with industry to further development of novel therapeutics.

Our History

Vincent Memorial Hospital History

The Vincent Memorial Hospital Foundation, Inc., is a charitable organization that fuels research and training in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the VCRB.

Early Mission and Support

Vincent Memorial Hospital was founded by the friends of Mrs. Mary Ann Vincent, a generous Boston actress who had a great heart for women in need. Dedicated to the care of wage-earning women, the freestanding hospital was originally located at 44 Chambers St. in the West End of Boston, near Massachusetts General Hospital. The hospital’s early medical staff consisted of Grace Wolcott, MD, and Lena V. Ingraham, MD, and the hospital’s governance was led by a Board of Trustees. In addition, a Board of Managers, a group of volunteers serving Vincent patients and staff, was initiated, as well as the Vincent Club, a prominent group of donors. All groups are active today.

Growth and Merger with Mass General

The first hospital quickly outgrew its 12-bed capacity. In 1908, it moved to a new and larger facility on South Huntington Avenue, where it remained until 1941. At that time, the hospital’s Board of Trustees and Joe Vincent Meigs, MD, the noted gynecologic surgeon and Vincent chief of staff, recognized the tremendous potential of merging Vincent Memorial Hospital with the broad resources of Massachusetts General Hospital. As a result, Vincent Memorial Hospital accepted Mass General’s invitation to become its gynecology service while retaining its own hospital identity and staff, and relocated to the Mass General main campus. In 1947, after operating out of temporary quarters during the war years, Vincent Memorial Hospital moved to its permanent home on three floors of the newly completed Vincent Burnham Building.

In 1988, Vincent Memorial Hospital and Mass General revised their agreement. The corporate purpose of Vincent Memorial Hospital was restated as follows: ”The Corporation shall be organized and shall be operated exclusively to support programs for the care and treatment of the diseases of women at The Massachusetts General Hospital.” Vincent Memorial Hospital gave up its hospital license and building, but retained its endowment, and Mass General agreed to formally designate with the name “Vincent” those places and programs associated with and funded by the Vincent Memorial Hospital Corporation. In 1994, the VCRB was launched with significant funding from Vincent Memorial Hospital.

Unique Foundation for Women’s Healthcare

In 2018, the Board of Trustees voted to change the organization’s name. The nonprofit corporation formally became The Vincent Memorial Hospital Foundation to better reflect its role as a funding organization while recognizing its heritage as a hospital. Over the years, funding has evolved to focus on the often “non-reimbursable” part of medicine, namely training new physician-scientists and advancing novel research studies in the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology. In recent years, the organization has provided unrestricted funds to support teaching and the infrastructure for successful investigation in reproduction and women’s health at Mass General. To ensure this critical work continues, the organization works to replenish its endowment through annual fundraising appeals.

Career Opportunities

A leader in education and research, the VCRB provides an optimal environment to pursue a career in academic research. With opportunities ranging from fellowships to basic/translational scientists, the VCRB provides an optimal environment for individuals who are interested in integrating clinical, translational, and basic sciences and have a strong desire to pursue a career in academic research.

Clinical Fellows Program

The VCRB provides an environment that exposes clinicians to an integrated clinical and basic research program. There are numerous projects ongoing within the VCRB with emphasis on infertility, ovarian, uterine and cervical cell signaling, fetal/maternal interactions, menopause, and benign and malignant gynecologic diseases. Our goal is to provide each clinical research fellow with the opportunity to design, implement and critically review basic research projects on clinically important topics. Opportunities are available for clinicians who are in an MGH fellowship. Contact any one of our faculty to find out more.

Administrative Staff

Jamie P. Murphy, MBA
Senior Administrative Director

Rosemary Barone, BS
Senior Research Lab Operations Manager

Jason Miller, MBA
Senior Grant Administrator

Rosilia Florus, BBA
Grant Coordinator