View the current RFA here.
**Deadline Extended to July 15, 2024**
The TRI STARs Program
Research shows that diverse teams working together and capitalizing on innovative ideas and distinct perspectives outperform homogenous teams.1 Scientists and trainees from diverse backgrounds and life experiences bring different perspectives, creativity, and individual enterprise to address complex scientific problems. Benefits that flow from a diverse scientific workforce include fostering scientific innovation, enhancing global and national competitiveness, contributing to robust learning environments for our students, improving research quality, and advancing the likelihood that underserved populations participate in, and benefit from, health research.2;3 However, underrepresented faculty still have inequitable access to information, professional development and research resources.4;5 The TRI Strategies for Training and Advancing underrepresented Researchers (STARs) Program provides the structured mentoring, grant writing skills and connections to institutional research resources and support to help strengthen the research acumen of underrepresented faculty. Importantly, it also provides a community of belonging and real support to ensure participants’ success in becoming independent investigators.
The STARs program aims to build a peer support community of underrepresented faculty in biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences research to foster career development and research success. This is accomplished by:
- Establishing a structured peer support group that engages in a five-month program of grant training and development. This model addresses issues of isolation often felt by underrepresented faculty in academic settings. It also provides and encourages the development of innovative research ideas in a safe environment. This peer support group can also help improve confidence and self-efficacy in clinical and translational research development and execution by junior faculty.
- ·Providing practical research skill development and grantsmanship.
- Offering access to research mentors and research support services, i.e. IRB protocol development and submission, recruitment, etc.
- Supplying $10,000 in seed funding upon course completion to help jumpstart future grant applications and generate preliminary data.
Eligibility
- Eligible participants should have a terminal degree; must be full-time faculty at UAMS, UAMS-NW, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Research Institute, or Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System who hold non-temporary positions at the rank of instructor, assistant professor, or associate professor; and must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.
- Faculty must meet the NIH definition of underrepresentation in biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences research.
If you would like more information or have questions, please contact Hailey Rogers at HRogers@uams.edu.
The TRI mission can be found at tri.uams.edu/about-tri .
References:
- Gomez LE, Bernet P. Diversity improves performance and outcomes. J Natl Med Assoc 2019; 111(4):383-392.
- Kandler A, Laland KN. An investigation of the relationship between innovation and cultural diversity. Theor Popul Biol 2009; 76(1):59-67.
- Hofstra B, Kulkarni VV, Munoz-Najar GS, He B, Jurafsky D, McFarland DA. The Diversity-Innovation Paradox in Science. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117(17):9284-9291.
- Fang D, Moy E, Colburn L, Hurley J. Racial and ethnic disparities in faculty promotion in academic medicine. JAMA 2000; 284(9):1085-1092.
- Pololi L, Cooper LA, Carr P. Race, disadvantage and faculty experiences in academic medicine. J Gen Intern Med 2010; 25(12):1363-1369.