Program Overview
Diversity in the biomedical research workforce:
- enhances the research agenda by bringing new knowledge and varied perspectives to research questions;
- reduces inequities in opportunities for research careers;
- potentially increases and enhances research into particular populations; and
- helps ensure a supply of well-qualified bioscience, clinical, and translational investigators in the research pipeline.
While major academic medical centers, foundations, and federal agencies, including NIH, DHHS, NSF, NASA, and AHRQ have provided considerable effort and dollars over the past several decades toward increasing the number of minority researchers in biomedical science, the number of underrepresented minority investigators has not reached the magnitude envisioned. The lack of diversity is especially severe with respect to blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indian/Native Americans and individuals with disabilities. For example, in 2003, only 7.3% of doctoral degrees in the biological sciences were awarded to underrepresented minorities (0.3% to American Indian/Native Americans, 2.7% to blacks, and 4.3% to Hispanics).
The University of Pittsburgh CEED program is designed to help address the shortage of underrepresented minorities in health sciences research careers. Specifically, this program will provide intensive early training, focusing on grant writing, preparation of publications, mentoring, and development of leadership and management skills to place promising future health care investigators in a competitive position to successfully compete for early career development awards (such as KO8, K12, K23, K25, VA, and other awards).
Why the focus on career development awards?
A career development award is considered the gateway to a successful independent research career, providing the protected time and mentoring that are critical for fellows, postdocs, and junior faculty to mature into independent researchers and obtain their own research funding.
How would the CEED program benefit trainees?
The CEED program will help focus a trainee's attention on writing a successful career development application by providing supplemental career mentoring, access to highly select course work that builds a foundation for grant writing, and by creating a supportive and nurturing environment comprised of people with similar intentions and ambitions and mentors who are knowledgeable about the process. After securing the 50% or more protected time needed from their departments, a CEED trainee will be expected to participate in all of the components of this 9-month training program. At the end of 9 months, each trainee is expected to have the knowledge and skills to submit an application for a career development award.
