Brown NIMHD Minority Health & Health Disparities International Research Training

Brown University, Providence RI

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Brown University Global Health Initiative requests support for the Brown University Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training Grant (Brown MHIRT). The goal of this proposed program is to mentor undergraduates and graduate students from underrepresented communities to pursue careers in biomedical sciences by providing exposure and training in global health programs and global health research. Currently, the Brown University Global Health Initiative (GHI) sponsors 20 undergraduate and graduate students to participate in global health research in medically underserved communities around the world. GHI includes an orientation program that reviews cultural competence, clinical research, safety, the nature of international research collaborations, and biomedical ethics in global context. GHI also sponsors a yearly global health research day to provide a venue for students to present their global health research. This proposed program will allow the Global Health Initiative to support an additional 10 trainees from underrepresented communities (8 undergraduate students and 2 graduate students) who have completed at least two years of coursework in a major related to medicine, public health or social and behavioral health sciences. This proposed project will also support development of a full course in global health prior to the summer immersion in global health and mentoring in health-related research after the summer immersion in global health. These 10 trainees will participate with the 20 students who are currently supported through the Global Health Initiative. 12 Brown faculty members with strong track records in global health research will mentor these students at seven global sites, including Kenya, Ghana, India, the Philippines, China and Ukraine. They will also have on site mentors from these countries. This opportunity will also allow Brown to expand its 49-year partnership with the Historically Black College, Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi. Tougaloo College and Brown University have worked collaboratively for over four decades to enhance the educational opportunities for undergraduates from underrepresented backgrounds, particularly African Americans. (1) Two Tougaloo trainees will participate in all aspects of this training each year, including the fully accredited course using distance learning, the 10 week global health experience, and the year-long intensive mentoring period after the field experience.