This endowment award will establish a new and sustainable Translational Program of Health Disparities Research Training (TRANSPORT). TRANSPORT will provide a foundation for growing and developing a diverse biomedical research workforce that will position Downstate as a national leader in translational disparities and population health research. Our efforts will focus on recruiting and training underrepresented minority (URM) junior faculty, postdoctoral candidates and undergraduate students who come from Brooklyn and other communities that are vulnerable to health disparities. We propose the following five objectives in TRANSPORT: 1. Establish a new Translational Program Of Health Disparities Research Training (TRANSPORT) that will support a range of research training initiatives from undergraduate pipeline programs, faculty development, and recruitment under BHDC. 2. Enroll 3 junior faculty candidates per year of endowment income, into a 2-year development program of TRANSPORT, leveraging the experience and success of PRIDE. 3. Enroll URM post-doctoral fellows who are identified as exceptional candidates and who are most likely to benefit from academic experience when matched with the most successful faculty investigators at Downstate. The endowment will support 2 fellows directly, full time for two years each, but other mechanisms will be used to support up to 6 fellows annually. 4. Expand partnerships with local colleges such as Medgar Evers College, where over 90% of students are URMs, to recruit 5 students in year 1, increasing by an additional 5 students each year, reaching 25 students/year in year 5 forward. These students will be enrolled into the Summer Program in Translational and Community Engaged Research (SPRINTER). SPRINTER will provide research opportunities in all 5 Colleges/Schools for undergraduate students and will greatly enhance pipelines into our schools, and ultimately into health disparities research. 5. Establish the Presidents Multi-disciplinary Investigator Seminar (PREMIS) series and an annual TRANSPORT interdisciplinary health disparities research symposium. These initiatives will greatly increase health disparities awareness and expand the range of research options offered by each of the colleges/Schools. This will enhance the academic environment and lead to opportunities for transdisciplinary collaborations in health disparities research. IMPACT: TRANSPORT will provide a rigorous research training infrastructure that will produce a critical mass of trained health disparities investigators and career advancement opportunities, which will ultimately contribute to the elimination of health disparities in Brooklyn and beyond.
This endowment award will establish a new and sustainable Translational Program of Health Disparities Research Training (TRANSPORT). TRANSPORT will focus on recruiting and training underrepresented minority (URM) junior faculty, postdoctoral candidates and undergraduate students who come from Brooklyn and other communities that are vulnerable to health disparities. TRANSPORT will also improve institutional collaboration and engagement in health disparities through monthly interactive seminars and yearly symposia. The lack of minorities in science and medicine is one of the most important factors that produce health disparities, therefore programs such as TRANSPORT are needed to fill this critical gap and to ensure that opportunities such as those provided through the endowment income exist to support and retain qualified URMs to develop successful academic careers in health disparities research, ultimately contributing to reduction in health disparities.
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