Investigator Development Core

摘要 从历史上看，几个世纪以来，非洲裔美国人一直是受健康差距影响最大的群体之一， 这反映在他们明显较高的死亡率、婴儿死亡率以及其他长寿和生活质量指标上。 我们国家最严重和持续的不平等之一影响着非洲裔美国妇女及其子女， 产妇和婴儿死亡率以及其他产妇和儿童健康指标很差， 与健康相关的生活质量。也有充分的证据表明，少数民族，特别是非洲裔美国人， 在获得生物科学博士学位的个人中代表性很低（例如，只有约 3%是非洲裔美国人，尽管他们占全国人口的12%以上）。非洲- 美国人也不成比例地处于不利地位方面的内部和外部NIH的资金 在全国范围内颁发。在美国国立卫生研究院的总资金中，只有1.4%是由非洲裔美国人PI获得的， 情况并没有随着时间的推移而改善。解决独立资助的巨大短缺的途径 非洲裔美国研究人员正在通过一项计划，解决健康差距，再加上支持 来自代表性不足的少数民族的初露头角的调查人员。研究者发展核心（IDC）是一个 母婴环境健康风险景观（MIEHR）研究的关键机制 中心将解决这一差距，以扩大研究基础，提高中心的影响。IDC将 支持来自对环境问题感兴趣的健康差异人群的调查人员的专业发展 健康差异研究。IDC的目标是激励、赞助和支持有影响力的研究， 解决环境健康的差异，促进研究人员之间的合作研究， 多学科。IDC将建立在贝勒医学院（Baylor College of Medicine）和得克萨斯州之间的合作伙伴关系基础上。 南方大学（大津），全国最大的历史上黑人大学之一，招聘， 支持和指导博士后和临床研究员，以及初级教师，从事孕产妇研究 和婴儿的环境健康。通过支持探索新途径的高风险、高影响的试点项目 在研究方面，应对时间敏感的研究机会，特别是与灾害有关的研究机会， 生成初步数据，以加强通过其他资助机制的赠款申请，国际数据中心将 促进健康差距人群的职业发展，促进整合 具有多种技能和才能的调查员。核心项目的关键评价指标将与试点项目如何 这些项目最终有助于启动职业生涯并解决环境健康方面的差距。因此，IDC至关重要 加强环境健康的身份和MIEHR中心研究的影响，并在解决 环境健康差异的差距研究人员从健康差异人群。

ABSTRACT Historically and for centuries, African-Americans have been among the most affected by health disparities, as reflected in their markedly higher death rates, infant mortality, and other measures of longevity and quality of life. One of the worst and persistent disparities in our nation affects African-American women and their children, who bear an overwhelming burden of maternal and infant mortality and other poor maternal and child health indicators of health-related quality of life. There is also ample evidence that minorities, and especially African-Americans, are poorly represented among individuals receiving doctoral degrees in the biological sciences (e.g., only about 3% are African-Americans even though they represent more than 12% of the national population). African- Americans are also disproportionately disadvantaged with respect to intramural and extramural NIH funding awarded nationwide. Of total funding by the NIH, only 1.4% were received by African-American PI’s, and the situation has not improved over time. A pathway to addressing this huge shortage in independently funded African-American researchers is through a program that addresses health disparities coupled with support of budding investigators from under-represented minorities. The Investigator Development Core (IDC) is one of the key mechanisms by which the Maternal and Infant Environmental Health Riskscape (MIEHR) Research Center will address this disparity to broaden the research base and enhance the Center’s impact. The IDC will support professional development of investigators from health disparity populations interested in environmental health disparities research. The Objective of the IDC is to stimulate, sponsor and support impactful research that addresses environmental health disparities and promotes collaborative research among investigators from multiple disciplines. The IDC will build on partnerships between Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Texas Southern University (TSU), one of the nation’s largest historically black universities in the nation, to recruit, support and mentor post-doctoral and clinical fellows, as well as junior faculty, to pursue research in maternal and infant environmental health. By supporting high-risk, high-impact pilot projects that explore new avenues for research, respond to time-sensitive research opportunities, especially as they relate to disasters, and generate preliminary data to strengthen grant applications through other funding mechanisms, the IDC will promote career development in health disparity populations and foster collaborative research that integrates investigators with multiple skills and talents. Key evaluative metrics of the Core will be related to how the pilot projects ultimately help launch careers and address disparities in environmental health. Hence, the IDC is pivotal to enhance the environmental health identity and impact of the MIEHR Center research, and in addressing the gap in environmental health disparities researchers from health disparity populations.