The objective of the Health Disparities Research Scholars Training Program (HDRS) is to provide training at the postdoctoral level in interdisciplinary research that addresses disparities in health status and health outcomes among minority populations as well as to recruit underrepresented minorities into academic research careers. We believe that integrating biomedical sciences, public health sciences, and sociocultural and behavioral sciences are prerequisite to addressing the linkages of macro-societal levels of being with pathogenesis of disease so important in addressing health disparities. Thus, the HDRS Training Program provides interdisciplinary and multifaceted opportunities for research that includes not only biomedical and behavioral sciences, but also investigation into quality of care, including cost, access and satisfaction with services; the causes of and barriers to reducing health disparities; attitudes towards health, language spoken, educational level, community profile and socioeconomic status; identification of assessment measures for outcomes, quality and appropriateness of health care services. The NIH and IOM call for greater diversity in the research workforce as a means to address health disparities. Attracting minorities from various disciplines such as physicians, nurses, pharmacists, sociologists, social workers, and nutritionists, into academic research careers will help in this endeavor. To address not only the broad array of research areas outlined above but also the interdisciplinary nature of the possible candidates, the faculty is interdisciplinary and consists f physician scientists, perinatal researchers, sociologists, nurse scientists, nutritional scientists epidemiologists and economists. To promote interdisciplinary research and disciplinary cross training, we will provide two mentors for each Scholar, balancing the biomedical/basic science and behavioral/demography and epidemiology approaches to address health disparities. This will increase the likelihood that both the Scholars and mentors will be crossed trained. We also will train HDRS trainees in the techniques of Community Based Participatory Research. With funding from the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award and the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, we have an infrastructure in place to support the program. The HDRS Program will influence and redirect the enormous intellectual capacity that exists on the UW- Madison campus toward addressing health disparities. Since retention of minorities in academic careers is essential, we are committed to making the environment supportive, academically rewarding, culturally enriching and professionally satisfying.
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