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The DPC’s National Research Mentoring Network launched phase II in July 2019. Since July, the staff and NRMN Co-Investigators at Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) have been strategizing innovative ways to recruit study participants, and working towards diversity and inclusivity in the biomedical research workforce.
Strategic Empowerment Tailored for Health Equity Investigators (SETH), led by Elizabeth Ofili, MD, MPH, FACC at MSM, hosted their first cohort of research study participants in collaboration with the Research Centers at Minority Institutions (RCMI) Conference in Bethesda, Maryland on Dec. 14-15, 2019. SETH welcomed 60 junior faculty and postdoctoral researchers and 10 coaches for two days of grantsmanship training to launch the five-year research study. At the meeting, each participant met face-to-face with their coach, along with several other study participants, who are coaching group mentees. The novel “coaching-group approach” is based on a model created by Richard McGee, Ph.D., at Northwestern University. Study participants engaged in bi-directional skills building, where they serve as both a “grant writer” and a “grant reviewer.” The goal is to constructively assess each other’s proposals while they are critically thinking about ways to craft their own narrative.
Study participants were also introduced to the Health Equity Learning Collaboratory (EQ-Collaboratory). The virtual platform makes the process of connecting with other investigators unencumbered, allows resources that support grant writing to be easily accessible and creates peer-to-peer accountability. Resources e such as the K-award curriculum developed by MSM were used as a guide for preparing K-grants. Presentation materials, tips for delineating specific aims, and helpful NIH resources were also accessible through the EQ-Collaboratory.
Over the next nine months, the coaching groups will meet bi-weekly in the EQ-collaboratory to review, edit and critique grant proposals. NRMN staff and co-investigators said they look forward to launching two ensuing cohorts over the next few years.
