John P. Elder, Ph.D., M.P.H
Gregory A. Talavera M.D., M.P.H.
Mentoring of Early Career Minorities in Health-Related Research
2013 APA Convention: Division 38 and Division 45
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
“Leaking pipeline”
• 2011 Ginther article finds that find that Asians are 4 percentage points
and African-American applicants are 13 percentage points less likely to
receive NIH investigator-initiated research funding compared with whites.
African-American applicants remain 10 percentage points less likely than
whites to be awarded NIH research funding.¹
• Latinos are losing ground in representation in academia: Latino citizens
and residents comprise only 5% of doctorate recipients in 2006 compared
to non-Latino whites at 76%.²
• Low numbers of Latino faculty at colleges and universities, numbering only
4% in 2003, many of these in Spanish language departments.³
¹ Race, Ethnicity, and NIH Research Awards Donna K. Ginther, Walter T. Schaffer, Joshua Schnell, Beth Masimore, Faye Liu, Laurel L. Haak, and Raynard Kington, Science
19 August 2011: 333 (6045), 1015-1019. [DOI:10.1126/science.1196783]
² Chapa, J, De La Rosa B. Latino population growth, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, and implications for educational attainment. Education and Urban
Society 2004; 26 (2): 130-149.
³ Digest of Education Statistics, 2004. National Center for Education Statistics. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d04/
Substantive action required
• Eliminate career advancement disparities by increasing:
– Amount of minorities receiving advanced degrees
– Minorities with doctoral-level degrees that become productive faculty , especially in
higher faculty ranks
– Increase awards of federal research funds to minority applicants
• Training of diverse and minority faculty in health professions, can
ultimately result in:
– “improving the quality of health care and accessibility of health services within culturally
responsible populations”. ¹
¹Fitz PA, Mitchell BE. Building Our Future – Increasing Diversity in the Diabetics Profession: A Summary of the ADA Diversity Mentoring Project. Journal of Allied Health
2002; 31: 177-183.
• R25 “PRIDE” grant funded to conduct Summer Institute programs to
enable faculty and scientists from minority groups to further develop their
research skills and knowledge to enhance their career development
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Behavioral and Sleep Medicine: NYU Langone Medical Center
Cardiovascular Genetic Epidemiology: Washington University in St. Louis
Cardiovascular-Related Research: SUNY Downstate Medical Center
Comparative Effectiveness Research: Columbia University School of Medicine
Functional and Applied Genomics of Blood Disorders: Georgia Regents University
Latino CVD Health Disparities: San Diego State University
• San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) and
the Institute for Behavioral and Community Health (IBACH) awarded one
of six mentoring programs
• Principal Investigators: John P. Elder and Greg Talavera
• Project funding period: 09/30/2010 – 09/29/2014
• Funding Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Mentoring Process
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1 year tailored mentoring with program objectives for each mentee (Aug – July)
– Pinpoint a focus area, develop research agenda, and determine academic plan and goals
– Regularly scheduled meetings either in person, by phone or e-mail
– Linkage with scientific expertise and role models
Mentor site visit
– Assigned mentor visits home university in following Spring
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PRIDE Annual Meeting, Washington D.C.
– Following Spring from Summer Institute allows mentees to network across PRIDE programs
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Post-Institute training stipend
– $1000 allocated for each mentee to pursue additional research
Challenges
• Thematic challenge for San Diego R25 PRIDE program has been whether to
present an ethnic/Racial-specific or variable-specific theme.
– We primarily emphasize the former in our summer institutes and this captures the
professional ‘passion’ of the participants, but by doing so we have to present a very
wide array of research topics, from biology to geography.
• Demand for program exceeds program capacity
– Increasing demand year after year
29 mentees 2011-’13
I. Ornelas
M. Reyes
S. Benavides-Vaello
D. Lopez- Cevallos
E. Grubert
M. Jimenez
J. Mattei
L. Lopez
B. Baquero
A. Tovar
P. Miranda
C. Alcantara
R. Pereira
A. Guerrero
Iana Castro
B. Campos
R. White III
S. Vega
L. Corsino
D. Sotres- Alvarez
K.D’Anna -Hernandez
J. Ruiz
P. Mora
E. Sosa
A. Rodriguez
L. Ojeda
R. Rosario-Rosado
Pulgaron, Elizabeth
Institute Curriculum
Our Summer Institute consists of over 30 transdisciplinary trainings
designed to enhance research skills in cardiovascular health disparities:
Public Health:
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Public Health Research Framework: James Sallis – UCSD
Community Based Participatory Research – Hector Balcazar, UTEP
Behavioral Observation Lab – John Elder, SDSU
GIS in Public Health Research – Ming Hsiang-Tsou, SDSU
Correlations/ Determinants – Carmen Isasi, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Intervention Studies – John Elder, Elva Arredondo, SDSU & James Sallis
Curriculum
Latino Health Disparities:
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Latino Health Disparities – William Vega, USC
Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos Data Set – Greg Talavera, Daniela
Sotres
Sociocultural Biobehavioral Factors in Hispanic/Latino Health – Linda Gallo, SDSU
Redes en Acción & Salud America – Amelie Ramirez, UT Texas Science Center, San
Antonio
Promotoras Panel
Acculturation Measures Panel Discussion – PI Panel
Nutrition:
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Grocery Store Audit – Guadalupe X. (Suchi) Ayala, SDSU
Community Audits – Guadalupe X. (Suchi) Ayala, SDSU
Nutrition Measurement – Ruth Patterson, UCSD
Physical Activity:
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Physical Activity Measures – Simon Marshall, UCSD
SOFIT, SOPARC, SOPLAY – Thom McKenzie, SDSU
Accelerometer Training – Simon Marshall, UCSD
Grantwriting:
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NHLBI Webinar: Grant Writing Seminar – Josephine Boyington, NHLBI Program Director
Developing an Individual Academic Plan – Michaela Kiernan, Stanford University
Scientific Writing Skills Workshop – Michaela Kiernan
Editing in Motion – Michaela Kiernan
Writing Grants That Get Funded: The Reviewer’s Perspective – Michaela Kiernan
How to Respond to Grant Reviews – Michaela Kiernan
Implementation Translation Dissemination – John Elder
Grant Management:
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Grant Management from a Program Manager Perspective – Program Manager Panel
Grant Management from a PI Perspective - PI Panel
Recruitment and Retention of Study Participants – Greg Talavera, SDSU
Program Gains
• During site visits, mentors advocate on mentee’s behalf
• Research Networks develop within groups of ‘mentee’ participants. After
two years many remain in close contact with one another.
• Networks among faculty presenters from around the country also develop,
linking us with other established senior researchers.
THANK YOU!