Creating Opportunities for Underrepresented Researchers to Achieve Growth and Excellence (COURAGE)

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Obesity, nutrition, and diabetes research in the United States suffers from a lack of diversity in the research community, as underrepresented (UR) investigators face more challenges than their majority counterparts and leave academic research positions at a higher rate. We propose a comprehensive longitudinal career advancement program, Creating Opportunities for Underrepresented Researchers to Achieve Growth and Excellence (COURAGE), to provide skill-building, leadership development, hands-on mentored experience in manuscript writing and grant preparation, and multi-level mentoring to support UR researchers in obesity, nutrition, and diabetes. Two cohorts of 10 COURAGE Scholars will be recruited to participate in a 3+ year program. The first two years will consist of group and individualized curricula, mentored research and writing experiences, execution of the pilot project, and multi-level mentoring. Year 3 onward will consist of ongoing mentoring from faculty and program leadership, continued engagement with COURAGE peers, and access to program resources. The MPIs leading COURAGE are accomplished researchers who bring complementary expertise in implementing programs to advance early-career researchers from UR backgrounds. Dr. Morone led a successful UR career development program at the University of Pittsburg and is now MPI of an NIH U01 testing this year-long intervention at sites around the country. Her expertise in implementing skill-building curricula makes her ideally suited to lead Aim 1, to provide a longitudinal program of skill-building to promote success in obesity, nutrition, and diabetes research. Dr. Stanley has extensive experience mentoring fellows and junior faculty, and she leads the successful pilot and feasibility program for the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard. She is thus ideally suited to lead Aim 2, to mentor COURAGE Scholars in the successful completion of pilot projects and application for an NIH grant. Dr. Stanford is an accomplished national leader and advocate for diversity within academic medicine; she is ideally suited to lead Aim 3, to prepare Scholars for academic leadership. Scholars will build a mentorship network that includes their peers, the MPIs, the Program Director, Dr. Mattei, the COURAGE epidemiologist Dr. Fox, and COURAGE faculty mentors. Scholars will complete the program with key deliverables including at least one submitted manuscript, a completed pilot project, and a submitted grant application. This program is a collaboration between multiple academic institutions: Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, Boston Medical Center/Boston University, Morehouse School of Medicine, and University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus. COURAGE program leadership and mentors represent all these institutions, and Scholars will be recruited representing each of these institutions. At the completion of COURAGE, Scholars will have enhanced academic and leadership skills, mentored research and writing experience with completed manuscript(s) and grant submissions, and a robust mentoring network that will continue supporting them as they move forward in their careers.