Obesity Health Disparities Research PRIDE Program (OHD PRIDE)
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ABSTRACT Overweight and obesity directly contribute to cardiovascular risk factors for cardiometabolic multimorbidity (i.e., type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, chronic kidney disease, and stroke) and can lead to the development of cardiovascular disease independent of other cardiovascular risk factors. Recent projections indicate that nearly half of all adults in the U.S. (48.9%) will be obese by 2030 and severe obesity will be the most common body mass index (BMI) category among women, African Americans, and low-income adults. Numerous reports have called for effective interventions for weight loss and weight management to slow and ultimately reverse current trends. Evidence from leading scientific organizations suggests that advancing this effort requires diversifying the biomedical research workforce with individuals from underrepresented groups also most affected by the obesity epidemic. Increasing the size, skill, and diversity of the scientific workforce calls for investment in training, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) answers this call with its signature initiative – Programs to Increase Diversity among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research (PRIDE). Our site, Obesity Health Disparities (OHD PRIDE) joined the NHLBI PRIDE family in 2014 and has implemented and evaluated a comprehensive research training and mentoring program for early- career faculty and transitioning postdoctoral fellows underrepresented in biomedical sciences. OHD PRIDE is the only funded site focused on obesity research and the only program specifically designed for eligible faculty employed at or who were trained at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). In this renewal proposal, we describe our strategy for implementing and evaluating a refined evidence-based, culturally- and contextually driven research training and mentoring program specifically designed for research-oriented, early-career faculty who are employed and/or trained at MSIs. OHD PRIDE will consist of five phases: (1) an initial 10-day intensive summer institute delivered in a phased, hybrid format; (2) longitudinal mentoring and networking during the academic year, including Writing Accountability Groups (WAGs); (3) tailored mentor support to submit competitive small research grant proposals (SRP); (4) a 3-day face-to-face mid-year meeting; and (5) a face- to-face culminating summer institute that will emphasize completion of SRP manuscripts for journal submission, career coaching, grant writing, and mock study sections. Our proposed program will draw from lessons over the past nine years to continue training and mentoring in obesity health disparities research across the life course, training in the responsible conduct of research, and secondary data analysis. OHD PRIDE features a dedicated group of trained research mentors, career coaches, and researchers (many of whom are faculty of color) with a strong track record of conducting a range of faculty development, research training, and mentoring programs with diverse populations employed in MSIs and majority institutions.
