(limited to 30 lines of text): This application for a new postdoctoral T32 training program at the University of Texas at Austin aims to increase diversity in behavioral, population, and implementation science research to promote health equity in cardiovascular disease. The proposed program will take advantage of the recently established UT Austin Medical School to enhance graduate-level inter-professional education efforts already underway at UT Austin by training postdoctoral fellows for two years in the Schools of Social Work and Medicine, with involvement from 32 mentors in the Schools of Social Work, Medicine, and Nursing, the Population Research Center, and the College of Pharmacy. In each of five years, the program will recruit recent PhD and MD recipients from underrepresented groups. Postdoctoral fellows (2 in Social Work & 2 in Medicine each year) will be trained in community-based participatory research methods and population health science. They will implement evidence-based interventions and/or produce scientific evidence with the ultimate goal of increasing health equity in behavioral factors related to heart and lung diseases (e.g., dietary habits, physical activity, adherence, tobacco use/exposure, metabolic syndrome, obesity). Key innovations include a ?mentor the mentors? approach and the cross-fertilization of social work and medical trainees. The Medical School is uniquely designed from the outset to promote population health and the School of Social Work is rooted in an equity lens and has a strong community-based focus; furthermore, the Schools have established a successful partnership. Fellows will further their research training and agendas through formal mentorship, formal coursework, seminars, conferences, and other career development activities. Each fellow will have a primary mentor assisted by other mentors in a team approach, and senior mentors on the team will guide the junior members on the team in a ?mentor the mentors? approach. The Program Director and Principal Investigator (PD/PI), Dr. Catherine Cubbin, will provide overall management of the program, and will be assisted by co- Program Directors (co-PDs), Drs. Yessenia Castro and Barbara Jones. An Advisory Committee will assist the PD/PI and co-PDs on administering the program and evaluating the program?s outcomes.
The specific aims of the program are to 1) increase the diversity of the pool of highly-trained researchers prepared for a career in cardiovascular research focused on health equity and 2) foster an environment at UT Austin for inter- professional development in cardiovascular research.
The proposed innovative postdoctoral training program at the University of Texas at Austin, an inter- professional education partnership between the Schools of Social Work and Medicine, will recruit & retain promising scholars from underrepresented groups to train and engage them in behavioral, population, and implementation science research to promote health equity in heart and lung diseases. The program will increase the diversity of the pool of highly-trained investigators focused on health equity in heart and lung diseases, and foster an environment at UT Austin for inter-professional development in cardiovascular research.
