One of the current challenges in reducing health disparities and improving minority health is the lack of an adequate number of investigators, health care providers, role models, and educators. The deficiency in the number of these leaders compounds the problem of persistent health disparities. Thus the overall goal of the Research Training and Education Core will be to cultivate, train, and grow the pool of minority academic investigators. These goals will be developed in the context of the comprehensive goal of the Center for Health Disparities Research, Engagement, and Training. Critical to addressing these problems will be intramural and extramural partnerships. Thus we will build on existing programs within the University of Minnesota Medical School and Academic Health Center. Extramurally we will include partnerships with the traditional historically black medical institutions, specifically Howard University, Meharry Medical College, and Morehouse School of Medicine. The Research Training and Education Core has four specific aims: 1. Develop a new partnership with the Minnesota Future Doctors Program to select four of their highly talented students to engage in a pre-M.D./Ph.D. research training experience; 2. Develop a new partnership with the Office of Clinical Research Summer Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Program in Clinical and Translational Research to include highly talented health profession students from Howard University, Meharry Medical College, and Morehouse School of Medicine for a summer pre-doctoral health disparities research training experience; 3. Develop a cultural competency curriculum for medical students at the University of Minnesota Medical School; 4. Provide qualified investigators with the experience of preparing grant applications. We believe these programs will provide a critical opportunity to expand the pipeline for students who are from underrepresented minority backgrounds and for those working in health disparities and minority health. At the end of five years, we will have trained 20 undergraduate students in the MN Future Doctors program and 20 health science students from historically black universities.
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