In FY18, NIMHD provided a total of $824,600 toward various DIR-specific and NIH-wide diversity initiatives ($466,024 for trainees + +$112,000 for MRSP + $150,000 for Bench to Bedside + $75,000 for Coleman IRP awards + $20,000 in lab expenses for two Adjunct Investigators (Drs. Sumner and Evans) + $1,576 for diversity-related IRP TAPS). The NIMHD DIR provided a total of $466,024 to support trainees located in NIMHD DIR labs or labs of NIMHD DIR Adjunct faculty; all were conducting health disparities research and most were underrepresented minorities (18 total). Two of these trainees were summer interns participating in the NINDS Summer Internship Program that enrolled mostly American Indian/Alaska Native Scholars. In addition, NIMHD DIR disbursed $112,000 to support the Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP). NIMHD DIR provided $300,000 over two years ($150,000 in FY18) in funding to support Dr. Chandra Jacksons (NIEHS) Bench-to-Bedside project focused on metabolic and lifestyle risk factors associated with diabetes health disparities among African American and White women. In response to an IRP-wide call for proposals, DIR funded 5 NIMHD William G. Coleman, Jr., awards at $15,000 each to support health disparities research projects by early investigators. Finally, as part of the agreement to support Adjunct faculty, NIMHD DIR provided $10,000 each to Dr. Anne Sumner (NIDDK) and Dr. Michele Evans (NIA) to support their health disparities research labs and workforce diversity efforts. In addition, in late FY18, NIMHD DIR hired two women from diverse backgrounds with a strong track record of supporting workforce diversity, Drs. Shirene El-Touhky and Faustine Williams. They, in turn are seeking to hire two post-doctoral fellows each with a commitment to diversity. Both of these tenure-track investigators received awards and were admitted to the first cohort of the NIH Distinguished Scholars Program, which aims to foster a culture of diversity and inclusion at NIH. During FY18, DIR investigators provided direct mentoring to one HiStep intern (Kathleen Dang), five post-baccalaureate fellows (Mary Andrews, Launick Saint-Fort, Michael Ramsey, Aaron Broun, and Cristian Escalera), one Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) trainee (Jennifer Bailey), one post-doctoral fellow (Julia Chen), and five undergraduate summer interns (Abel Amare, Danielle Duarte, Leah Orozco, Maria Ortiz, and Alyssa Watson). All 13 trainees conducted health disparities research and most were from under-represented in research population groups. Furthermore, with DIR funding, our Adjunct faculty hosted three post-baccalaureate fellows (Tsegaselassie Wokalemahu, Jonique Caesar, and Marcus Andrews) and three post-doctoral fellows (Katrell McWhorter, Regine Mugeni, and Calais Prince). Thus, a total of 19 health disparities research trainees were supported in FY18. Finally, in the area of committee and related service, Dr. Napoles served on the NIH Distinguished Scholars Program Planning Committee, the NINDS Summer Internship Program Planning Committee, and the MRSP Executive Steering Committee. She advised these programs on recruitment of diverse candidates, health disparities research training content, and outcomes tracking. In support of other NIH diversity efforts, Dr. Napoles gave talks to the NIH Clinical Centers 2018 Grant Writing and Grantsmanship Course For Clinical Fellows, Women of Color Committee of the trans-NIH Working Group on Women in Biomedical Careers, and NIA Butler-Williams Scholars program. Drs. Choi and El-Toukhy gave talks at local high schools with diverse student populations to raise awareness of NIH and health disparities research careers, as well as biomedical careers in general.
