Supporting, Promoting, and Launching the Expansion of Nutrition, Diabetes, and Obesity Researchers in North Carolina

Project Summary/Abstract - There is an urgent need to create sustainable systems to facilitate the success of early career investigators as it pertains to the mission of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Thus, we propose a comprehensive program to facilitate the success of early career scientists engaged in research that is directly responsive to the mission of NIDDK and that builds on the extensive infrastructure already in place within and across our institutions. We draw upon established collaborations through our NIDDK-funded University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Nutrition Obesity Research Center (UNC-NORC) (P30DK056350, MPIs Mayer-Davis/Shaikh) and our North Carolina Diabetes Research Center (NC-DRC) (P30DK124723, PI McClain) to Duke University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), North Carolina Central University, Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Winston-Salem State University. Led by MPIs Dr. Saame Raza Shaikh (UNC), Dr. Kimberly Truesdale (UNC), and Dr. Marc Cook (NC A&T), we propose the Supporting Promoting, and Launching the Expansion of Nutrition, Diabetes, and Obesity Researchers in North Carolina (SPLENDOR-NC) program. We aim to build on established infrastructure to develop key program components and a rigorous evaluation plan (Year 1) that ensures continuous quality improvement (Years 2-5) of SPLENDOR-NC that will support the success of early career scientists in the conduct of research in nutrition, obesity, diabetes, and related conditions. We will establish three cohorts of scholars (total n=20) (Year 2, Years 3-4) and execute programmatic activities (Years 2-5). Scholars will be selected competitively and will include senior post-doctoral scholars and early career faculty members across our six institutions. Each scholar will have a dedicated primary mentor and mentoring team as well as access to carefully curated programs for professional development that will unfold over the two-year program. The required deliverable for our program is an NIH proposal (K or R-level, as appropriate to career stage) for which substantial training and mentoring will be provided. Finally, we will offer a robust P&F Program (Years 1-5) with two levels of funding that will 1) enable collection of preliminary data to support external proposal submissions (up to $50,000 per award) and 2) enhance research success by providing targeted support for equipment, lab supplies, trainings, etc. (up to $10,000 per award). Building on our substantial existing NIDDK infrastructure and research funding, SPLENDOR-NC will markedly improve the research workforce, preparing scholars to make substantial scientific contributions via independent NIH research funding in the critical areas of nutrition, obesity, diabetes, and related conditions for years to come.