Investigator Development Core

Abstract At Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) investigator development continues to be integral to capacity building in biomedical/behavioral/health disparities research. A diverse group of institutes, departments, and centers offer a varied pool of investigators requesting support for both scientific and career development. IDC-supported investigators through rigorous mentoring, support groups, and grant writing workshops, while executing their research projects. The IDC received a total of 23 proposals and six 2-year pilots were awarded. The PIs of the awarded pilot projects regularly communicated with the IDC to report project progress in biweekly meetings. During COVID-19, the progress of pilot project activities and specifically, the community-driven pilots was impeded. Changes in social distancing and shifts were also implemented for lab-based studies. A support group was created for pilot awardees to navigate their research through the pandemic. In total, the pilot program infrastructure was utilized to collaborate with other MSM programs to develop, award, and sustain a total of 30 small research projects (6 CTRHD-funded and 24 non-CTRHD seed grants) and associated mentoring activities to 36 MSM investigators. MSM continues to employ a strong pool of junior faculty/scientists who can be targeted for development into biomedical/behavioral researchers in health disparities. In the RCMI Center for Health Disparities Research’s Investigator Development Core (IDC), we will implement the following specific aims (SA): SA1: Administer and employ a rigorous and competitive pilot project program to stimulate new biomedical and behavioral health disparity (HD) research at MSM; and SA2: Provide mentoring and professional development support for MSM faculty to develop as biomedical and behavioral population health HD researchers. The two specific aims are also designed to cultivate the development of research teams focusing on minority health and associated disparities. Hence, the success of the IDC will have a huge impact on research capacity at MSM and health disparities nationwide in both urban and rural communities.