Center for Health Equity Research Institute II: Community-engaged biomedical research training and mentored experiences for early career faculty

Project Summary The goal of this IPERT renewal application, submitted by California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) Center for Health Equity Research (CHER), is to provide educational and mentored activities to enhance the readiness of diverse early career faculty at minority serving institutions

(MSIs) to conduct community engaged biomedical research designed to promote health equity. The proposed CHER Institute II builds on the lessons learned, experiences, and accomplishments garnered by the original CHER Institute, with the inclusion of a wider range of biomedical scientists, enhancements to mentor training and mentoring components, additional funding to

support proposal development, and the use of comparator groups to assess outcome evaluation and inform sustainable models for research training and mentoring. The CHER Institute II will feature: 1) A six-day, individual and group intensive experience focused on effective community engaged biomedical research to support participants in the development of a specific aims page

for an NIH proposal, and either an outline of a manuscript for peer-review or the approach section for an NIH proposal; 2) Regular, mentored support between CHER Institute faculty mentors and graduated faculty fellows for 12 months following the institute; 3) A highly focused, virtual writing retreat to continue to develop skills/capacity among alumni who are preparing a submission (or

resubmission) of an NIH grant proposal to include mentoring for up to 6 months, support for one course buyout or the equivalent, and a peer review prior to submission of their proposal; 4) Webinars (2 per semester) for 100 early career faculty (including mentored faculty fellows) annually on theory-based, culturally informed methods and skills development for community-

engaged biomedical research. Institute participants will be recruited from MSI campuses and affiliated networks using CHER’s database developed during the first CHER Institute, and through the partnerships established with CHER Institute faculty mentors and alumni. Faculty at sister MSIs across the U.S. will be given priority, but interested faculty from other institutions

who are working in the area of community-engaged health equity biomedical research may also apply. The specific aims of the CHER Institute II are: Aim 1: To develop and implement sustainable models for delivering community-engaged biomedical research education and mentoring to diverse, early career faculty at MSIs across the

U.S. Aim 2: To evaluate sustainable models for delivering community-engaged, health equity biomedical research training and education to early career faculty at MSIs across the U.S.