REU Site: Community-Engaged Training for Advancing Health Equity

该项目由社会，行为和经济科学理事会（SBE）本科生研究经验（REU）站点计划资助。除了整合研究和教育之外，它还具有科学和社会效益。这个REU项目将向本科生介绍卫生公平领域的研究方法，优先考虑社区成员的参与。这包括社区组织或社区成员自己可以指导研究重点的方法。这与其他研究问题和方法仅由研究人员确定的方法形成对比。这类方法有助于社区成员的参与，这对于处理卫生公平问题尤其重要。这是因为卫生公平主题往往关注遭受排斥和歧视的人群，他们可能不信任研究人员或他们所代表的机构。它还确保社区成员在确定最需要哪些卫生领域方面有发言权。我们将通过让学生在几个正在进行或最近完成的使用这些方法的研究项目中工作来向他们介绍这些方法。学生将完成对自己选择的项目的分析，并参与其他研究活动，以帮助他们学习与社区成员互动和合作的常用方法。这项工作将由一位领导原项目的导师监督。本科生参与者还将参加研讨会，向他们介绍与社区成员参与的研究的各种关键概念。其他讲习班将侧重于专业发展。在这些经历结束时，本科生参与者将向主办大学的研究人员展示他们的发现。我们对这类研究的方法有助于确保本科生接受培训，了解以结果公平的方式进行卫生公平研究的最佳方法。由于项目的重点，我们也预计我们的参与者将比整个领域更加多样化。因此，我们可能会帮助推动更多样化的劳动力的职业发展，以更好地满足卫生公平研究的需求。卫生研究人员的多样性仍然远远低于他们所服务的社区。充分的代表性对于促进这些领域内的卫生公平至关重要。优先考虑卫生公平和利用尊重所研究人群的社区参与方法，为吸引具有相同背景的学生提供了最佳机会。这些方法清楚地表明，他们的观点是有价值的，并且是成功推进这项研究的核心。今年夏天，REU将促进对卫生公平和卫生差距相关研究的先进方法方法的兴趣。教师通过有序的、每周的教学来教授科学，并在为期10周的暑期项目中进行实践研究。该REU进一步促进了实验室环境中的队列体验，将REU学生与项目经理、博士后研究人员、研究生和本科生研究助理整合在一起，以实现最佳的学习和参与。该项目的目标是通过培训参与者采用社区参与的卫生公平研究方法，增加卫生科学职业的代表性。卫生公平对整体公共卫生至关重要，随后成为NSF、NIH、SAMSHA和其他机构内横切倡议的核心组成部分。在卫生公平方面继续开展REU对于为学生提供卫生公平方面多样化的应用研究机会至关重要。它集中了有效但未充分利用的方法，如基于社区的参与性研究（CBPR）和文化敏感范例。这种独特的REU经验将继续：1)产生对健康科学的兴趣，特别是在卫生公平方面；2)在研究生教育中促进成功的技能发展；3)建立研究支持网络，为学生提供支持；4)提供职业道路和研究生教育方面的指导，5)为本科生提供展示和出版研究的经验。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). It has both scientific and societal benefits in addition to integrating research and education. This REU project will introduce undergraduates to research methods in health equity fields that prioritize the involvement of community members. This includes approaches where community organizations or community members themselves may guide the focus of the research. This is in contrast to other methods where the research questions and methods are only determined by the researcher. These kinds of methods help to engage community members, which is especially important for addressing health equity topics. This is because health equity topics often focus on populations who have experienced exclusion and discrimination and may distrust researchers or the institutions they represent. It also ensures that the community members have a voice in determining what areas of health are of greatest need. We will introduce students to these methods by having them work on one of several ongoing or recently completed research projects that uses these kinds of methods. Students will complete analyses on the project of their choosing and be involved in other research activities to help them learn common methods for engaging and collaborating with community members. This work will be overseen by a mentor who led the original project. Undergraduate participants will also attend workshops that introduce them to a variety of key concepts for research that engages community members. Additional workshops will focus on professional development. At the end of these experiences, undergraduate participants will present their findings to researchers at the host university. Our approach to this kind of research helps ensure that undergraduates receive training on the best available methods for doing health equity research in a way that moves toward equity in outcomes. Because of the focus of the project, we also anticipate that our participants will be more diverse than the field as a whole. We therefore are likely to help advance the careers of a more diverse workforce to better address health equity research needs.The health research workforce remains far less diverse than the communities they serve. Adequate representation is vital to advancing health equity within these fields. Prioritizing health equity and utilizing community-engaged approaches that respect the populations being studied provides the best opportunity for engaging the students who share these same backgrounds. Such approaches clearly communicate that their perspectives are valued and central to successful advancing this research. This summer REU will promote interest in advanced methodological approaches for health equity and health disparities related research. Faculty teach science through sequenced, weekly didactics leading to and operating alongside hands-on research across a 10-week summer program. This REU further facilitates cohort experiences in a laboratory setting, integrating REU students with project managers, post-doctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate research assistants for optimal learning and engagement. The goal of the project is to increase representation in health science careers by training participants in community-engaged methodological approaches to health equity research. Health equity is critical to overall public health and subsequently a central component of crosscutting initiatives within NSF, NIH, SAMSHA, and others. The continuation of this REU in health equity is critical for providing students diverse, applied research opportunities in health equity. It centers effective, yet underutilized methods like Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and culturally sensitive paradigms. This unique REU experience will continue to: 1) generate interest in health sciences, especially in health equity; 2) promote skill development for success in graduate education; 3) create a research support network to support students; 4) provide mentoring on career paths and graduate education, and 5) provide undergraduate students experience in presenting and publishing research.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.