Multiple Chronic Conditions_Interdisciplinary Nurse Scientist Training



 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is a new application for a T32 predoctoral and postdoctoral training program to provide interdisciplinary research training for nurse scientists pursuing careers focused on populations with multiple chronic conditions. The co-existence of multiple chronic conditions confers a compounding burden on overall health status, functional ability, and quality of life. The next generation of nurse scientists needs to be equipped with the knowledge and skills required to tackle the study of the complex phenomena associated with research addressing multiple chronic conditions across the translational continuum. The use of conceptual models and methods from several fields of study is needed, as well as the integration of multiple interdisciplinary perspectives, methodologies, and levels of analyses. The use of new analytic methods is needed to examine mechanisms and interactions of multiple chronic conditions and treatment effects, the clustering of morbidities, and the influence of known confounders. A cadre of expertly trained researchers who can conduct research among and within populations with multiple chronic conditions will assist to reduce the health disparitie among vulnerable groups in our society known to have high multiple morbidity, including those of minority racial/ethnicity, the very young and the very old and those with disabilities. To enhance the cultural diversity of the research workforce, we are collaborating with two minority- serving institutions: Florida Agricultural and Mechanical (A&M) School of Nursing, a historically black university, and Lehman College and Graduate School at City University of New York (CUNY), a Hispanic- serving institution. We will recruit minority trainees from Florida A&M and Lehman at CUNY into our fast-track BSN to PhD program and postdoctoral training program. Building on the success of our past and existing T32, this NRSA will support 8 predoctoral and 9 postdoctoral trainees over 5 years. We have enhanced our existing program to include an emphasis on research training that is more interdisciplinary, encourages the use of NIH intramural research opportunities for early career investigators, requires an introduction to genetics and gene-environment interactions as biological- social context for understanding multiple chronic conditions, and provides advanced training in statistical methods appropriate for longitudinal, multi-level, or lagged effects analyses.