Project Funding Details

PROJECT SUMMARY: TRAINING AND EDUCATION PROGRAM While minority faculty in the clinical and translational sector may provide an innovative perspective from which we identify problems disproportionately plaguing populations of color, they often lack the research capacity needed to both rigorously evaluate the causal predictors of these problems and identify mechanistic modes of intervention for the elimination of health disparities. Moreover, minority investigators encounter major barriers to successful competition for federal research funding, which include but are not limited to: inadequate research training, a lack of opportunities for professional development, insufficient mentorship, and inadequate support for research focused on minority populations (Shavers, 2005). Thus, in response to PAR-18-911, our goal is to partner with Hampton University (HU) faculty in order to provide hybrid training and education to increase HU research capacity in the area of cancer genomics and health disparities, while also providing a rigorous curriculum in introductory and advanced biostatistics and data science, clinical genome science, epidemiology, community-engaged research, health disparities research, and clinical research methods. The curriculum will be administered through online asynchronous and synchronous lectures coupled with intensive on-site training sessions in Years 2 through 4 of the proposed four-year partnership. Our objectives are to: 1) successfully implement the online cancer genomics research training and education program; 2) design and successfully implement the on-site research training education program; and 3) conduct a rigorous evaluation of the impact of the proposed training and education program on building research capacity and increasing research engagement and productivity. Additionally, HU will be providing extensive insight and guidance to help foster a culture of inclusion, diversity, and equity among members of the ISMMS research workforce through a series of in-person and virtual lectures. In summary, we are confident that our proposed, comprehensive, online and on-site training and education program will increase the competitive success of federal grant submissions by HU faculty for cancer health disparities genomics research projects, while also providing them with an optimal skill-set that they can disseminate to the larger HU community of faculty and students.

Project Narrative: Training and Education Program Diverse investigators play an integral role in identifying novel research questions, perspectives, and solutions to complex biomedical challenges. Yet, diversifying the biomedical research workforce remains a major challenge in the US, despite the fact that underrepresented minorities make up the most rapidly growing segment of the US population Thus, in a unique partnership between the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Hampton University, we propose to provide hybrid training and education to increase the research capacity, engagement, and success of the HU scientific workforce, with particular emphasis on genetics and genomics and cancer disparities research.