Investing in America's Future: Mentoring Latinos in Health Disparities Research

说明(由申请者提供)：项目摘要：鉴于文化、文化适应和社会经济地位等因素的异质性，有必要对拉美裔群体特有的心血管健康和与其他慢性病相关的共同保护和风险因素进行更多研究。然而，在美国，拉丁裔科学家和大学教职员工的代表性不足，这导致寻求了解和扭转拉丁裔社区经历的负面健康差距的科学家在洞察力方面受到限制。因此，至关重要的是培训和培养未来的科学家，以增加关于拉丁裔健康的文献，并增加拉丁裔社区成员获得具有文化能力的健康信息和保健的机会。随着更多的拉丁裔研究人员接受培训，就有更大的潜力使劳动力多样化，并促进对文化敏感的研究，从而鼓励不同群体继续纳入和参与研究。拟议的培训计划名为“投资美国的未来：在健康差异研究中指导拉丁裔人”，将把在拉丁裔社区健康研究方面有成就的研究人员(导师)和有抱负的年轻研究人员(导师)聚集在一起，以优化后者中研究成功和进步的机会，并反过来为他们培训下一代将从事拉丁裔健康工作的个人做好准备。为了促进拉丁裔初级教员和科学家的科学职业发展，拟议的小组将提供一系列培训和辅导活动，重点是拉丁裔的健康和健康差距研究，如与心血管疾病(CVD)和其他与心血管疾病风险因素相关的疾病。这些活动将涉及三个单独的队列，每个队列大约有八名拉丁裔学员(总共24名学员)，包括最初为期两周的暑期学院，一名导师年中访问每个学员的研究环境，第二个为期一周的夏季学院，以及在研究期结束时所有三个组的最后一次会议。学员和导师之间的定期交流，以及提供适中的津贴以继续进行额外的培训，将是对面对面活动的补充。该计划的最终目标是使初级研究人员具备必要的技能，以便在完成该计划后的两年内编写手稿并提交与健康差距和心血管疾病有关的拨款提案。将定期对拟议的研究培训方案进行评估，以确定所采用方法的总体相关性和价值。学员和导师的反馈将被用来改进计划，以最好地满足参与者的需求。此外，该方案的部分内容将在其结束时传播，以允许其他无法参加的人利用培训的各个方面发展富有成效的拉丁裔健康研究事业。 公共卫生相关性：项目叙述：拉美裔科学家在美国的代表性不足，这导致寻求了解和扭转拉美裔社区经历的负面健康差距的科学家的洞察力变得狭窄。因此，这一培训计划将通过培训和发展年轻的拉丁裔教员和科学家来满足巨大的需求，以进行严格的研究，以增加关于拉丁裔健康的文献，并增加拉丁裔社区成员获得具有文化能力的健康信息和护理的机会。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Project Summary: Given the heterogeneity of factors such as culture, acculturation, and socioeconomic status, there is a need for additional research related to cardiovascular health and shared protective and risk factors associated with other chronic diseases specific to Latino subgroups. However, there is an under-representation of Latino scientists and university faculty in the US, which contributes to a limitation in insight among scientists seeking to understand and reverse the negative health disparities experienced by Latino communities. It is thus crucial to train and develop future scientists to increase the body of literature on Latino health and to increase Latino community members' access to culturally competent health information and care. As more Latino researchers are trained, there is greater potential to diversify the workforce and promote culturally sensitive research that encourages the continued inclusion and participation of diverse groups in research studies. The proposed training program, entitled, "Investing in America's Future: Mentoring Latinos in Health Disparities Research," will bring researchers accomplished in Latino community health research (mentors) together with aspiring younger researchers (mentees) to optimize the chances of research success and advancement among the latter and prepare them in turn to train the next generation of individuals who will be working in Latino health. To advance the scientific career development of the junior Latino faculty and scientists, the proposed team will offer a series of trainings and mentoring activities focused on Latino health and health disparities research as related to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other conditions associated with CVD risk factors. These activities, which will involve three separate cohorts of approximately eight Latino mentees each (24 mentees total), will consist of an initial two-week long summer institute, a mid-year visit by a mentor to each of the mentees' research settings, and a second summer institute of one-week, as well as a final meeting of all three cohorts at the conclusion of the study period. Regular communication between mentees and mentors and the provision of a modest stipend to pursue additional training will complement the in-person activities. The ultimate goal of the program is to equip the junior researchers with the skills necessary to develop manuscripts and submit a grant proposal related to health disparities and CVD within two years of completing the program. The proposed research training program will be evaluated periodically to determine the overall relevance and value of the methods employed. Mentee and mentor feedback will be used to refine the program to best meet the needs of the participants. Further, portions of the program will be disseminated at its conclusion to allow others who are not able to attend to develop productive Latino health research careers using aspects of the training. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Project Narrative: There is an under-representation of Latino scientists in the US, which contributes to a narrowing of insights among scientists seeking to understand and reverse the negative health disparities experienced by Latino communities. Therefore, this training program will fulfill a great need by training and developing junior Latino faculty and scientists to conduct rigorous research to increase the body of literature on Latino health and to increase Latino community members' access to culturally competent health information and care.