RACING AHEAD (Research-focused Assessment of Capacity, Institutional Needs and Growth strategies to Advance Health Equity and Address Disparities)

The title describes the Objective of this project: RACING AHEAD (Research-focused Assessment of Capacity, Institutional Needs and Growth strategies to Address HEAlth Disparities). We will conduct a needs assessment to identify gaps in our health disparities research capacity and develop an action plan to catalyze vertical growth in extramural biomedical research funding, aimed at improving regional health outcomes. ECU qualifies as a resource-limited institution by NIH STRONG criteria and is a strong match for this mechanism: 1) our annual NIH Research Project Grant funding is at an all-time high of only $11.1M in FY2022; 2) founded as a regional teacher training school, ECU is now classified as an R1 university, with 10 degree-granting colleges/schools, including 5 health professional schools; 3) we provide students with opportunities for experiential learning in biomedical research. ECU has a longstanding mission to serve rural eastern North Carolina (ENC), a region with significant economic distress and health disparities. ECU faculty span varied disciplines that work to understand and reduce health disparities through engagement in community, basic, translational, clinical, and transdisciplinary research. The ECU Center for Health Disparities (CHD) is a key component of ECU’s efforts to bridge academic silos and build research synergies. We assembled a strong leadership team with complementary expertise in needs assessment, biomedical research, health disparities, and strategic planning. Co-investigators from the CHD and Institutional Planning, Assessment & Research (IPAR) strengthen the team as do Cross Campus Core faculty who will provide insights and increase campus participation. Our robust Steering Committee of ECU stakeholders will work with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to oversee and guide the project. Aim 1. Assess organizational capacity for health disparities research – We will employ integrated mixed methods to assess university research infrastructure and support systems and identify barriers to research productivity. We will leverage university data systems and engage the ECU community with focus groups and surveys, aided by consultants from aspiration research peers. Aim 2. Develop an action plan to strengthen institutional capacity for health disparities research – We will share Aim 1 outcomes internally and develop short- and long-term action plans to address identified needs with articulated metrics, milestones, and strategic priorities. We will use the transdisciplinary NIMHD Research Framework to define our health disparities research strengths and themes for collaboration. Long-term Goal: To form a transdisciplinary community united with shared expectations, goals, health disparities research foci and strategic priorities, whose synergies will catalyze increased competitiveness for extramural biomedical research support.