Investigator Development Core

University Of Alabama At Birmingham, Birmingham AL

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The mission of the Deep South Center to Reduce Disparities in Chronic Diseases is to improve health outcomes and reduce the burden of cardiometabolic diseases across the “Deep South” region of the United States that includes Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. A key component of fulfilling this mission is growing the workforce with the expertise necessary to conduct research related to dissemination and implementation, comparative effectiveness, and translation of evidence-based interventions for real-world settings. The primary objective of the Investigator Development Core is to prepare and mentor investigators to develop innovative research that applies a precision public health approach—best viewed as “providing the right intervention to the right population at the right time”—by paying careful attention to factors at multiple levels (individual, interpersonal, organizational community, societal). To this end, we have assembled an interdisciplinary team of investigators with expertise in translational research from across four academic partners institutions (the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Tuskegee University) as well as community partners committed to improving outcomes for cardiometabolic diseases in the region. The Directors of the Investigator Development Core, together with the Center MPIs and other Core Faculty, have created a robust plan to provide early-stage investigators unique training in translational research methods and access to core resources dedicated to topics essential for this work. The Investigator Development Core will establish a competitive pilot project program that will fund a minimum of six high quality research projects annually and provide pilot awardees a mentoring team that will offer strategies and assistance to advance the pilot projects to competitive grant applications. The Investigator Development Core will also provide access to subunits that will provide pilot awardees, and the three Center projects, expertise in translational design and methodology, implementation and dissemination science, and cost effectiveness analysis. Ultimately, these activities will yield 30 to 40 early-career investigators, allow for collaborative and focused cardiometabolic research across Academic/Research Institutions within the Deep South, and ensure engagement of local/regional community settings. Key outcomes for this core include publications and extramural grants resulting from the pilot awards, career trajectories of awardees, and numbers of applicants.