This proposal addresses three of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director (ACD) recommendations on diversity in the biomedical research workforce: It 1) expands the concept of traditional dyadic mentoring, 2) focuses on sustaining a robust network of peers, content experts, and developers, and, 3) specifically targets career transition and progress toward research independence. We propose a randomized controlled study that aims (1) To compare the effectiveness of a developmental network (DN) informed intervention plus structured grant writing coaching compared with structured grant writing coaching alone, on the research productivity of early stage investigators (ESIs) including those from underrepresented groups. (2) To determine if institutional settings influence the developmental networks of diverse ESIs. We will engage diverse early stage investigators (ESIs) including scientists from NIH research networks such as Research Centers at Minority Institutions (RCMI), Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) and Institutional Development Awards (IDeA), as well as NIH disease focused Centers of Excellence. Scientists from these NIH funded networks have pledged support to be potential developers, sponsors and possible mentors for this experimental project These networks have research resources such as pilot funding and access to laboratories and mentors, to support project investigators. The intervention will be delivered in a technology enabled virtual collaboratory, which will support synchronous and asynchronous peer, coach and content expert interaction, with data generation and collection, allowing us to examine the effects of ESI characteristics, as well as the contextual factors, including institutional context and grant writing task requirements that shape the developmental network structure and content. The Primary Outcome is Research productivity, as measured by time to submission of a NIH grant application (K, R, U, and/or Minority Supplement mechanisms). Secondary outcomes include: i) Scored grants; ii) awarded grants iii) Publication in peer reviewed journals iv) ESI developer network measures including size, composition, and structure of each ego network; v) persistence and career progression in academic, industry, government or other non- academic research. Our study will lead to new knowledge about the role of developmental networks (social capital) in advancing the career of diverse early stage investigators, including those from underrepresented groups.
Full inclusion of scientists and trainees from diverse backgrounds will better position the scientific enterprise to address critical national public health research goals. This project will influence the future education, training and mentoring of diverse biomedical scientists who advance public health and promote health equity.
