Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research
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OVERALL ABSTRACT The Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research (MCUAAAR), a center comprised of the three Research 1 universities in Michigan, proposes to expand its reach and impact by mentoring junior faculty (most of whom are African American) and by focusing on the unique aspects of stress and coping in older African Americans using a life course lens. Our four specific aims include (1) Increase reach through the maturation of our three-university structure and our growing relationships with five HBCUs; (2) Recruit and mentor 15 new junior researchers whose research will focus on health disparities and unique life course experiences of stress and coping in African American older adults; (3) Enhance our established nationally recognized model for successfully engaging with urban African American communities; and (4) Continue to build the next generation of leaders for MCUAAAR. Three cores (LAC, AnC and CLRC) and the Research Education Component (REC) are proposed in this application. We will employ an integrative approach to mentoring, entailing a structured set of activities and training across the pilot funding period:(a) Formal goals will be set at the beginning of the pilot and reviewed in monthly MCUAAAR meetings; (b) Based on the goals set, a mentoring team will be assembled to assist with research, dissemination of findings, and research translation;(c) A set of training activities in scientific writing, measurement, and community-based research partnerships will be conducted each year; (d) A formal six and twelve-month evaluation will be conducted and shared with the MCUAAAR faculty. We continue to be motivated by the dearth of NIH studies in health disparities and by the continued low representation of African Americans funded through R01 grants. The RCMAR program has been important in helping to eliminate this gap for RCMAR researchers overall.
RESEARCH COR (REC) ABSTRACT There is a severe shortage of ethnic minorities at all levels of the bio-medical and social and behavioral sciences workforce. African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans have a lower likelihood of entering and completing college, graduate school, and professional schools. Additionally, ethnic minority faculty members in the social and bio-medical sciences are less likely to receive tenure or move to the highest levels of academic positions. Mentoring is one of the major issues identified in the literature that may substantially facilitate diversifying the academic and biomedical workforce. We propose to build upon a proven method of “integrative” mentoring which has allowed pilot investigators in the MCUAAAR to become productive researchers and obtain NIA/NIH funding. The three specific aims of the Research Education Component (REC) include: 1) Recruit and select 15 new junior researchers who propose pilot studies using a biopsychosocial life-course framework for behavioral and social science studies of aging and health disparities; 2) Coordinate the short- and long-term mentoring, retention, and follow-up of this set of ethnic minority junior investigators whose research focuses on the social and behavioral aspects of physical and mental health and health disparities; and, 3) Conduct year-round training sessions and implement curricula for pilot scientists; conduct intensive three-day summer workshops for pilot investigators and a national audience of minority doctoral students, junior faculty, and postdoctoral fellows; and conduct auxiliary mentoring groups for doctoral students in our three partner universities and HBCU partners. We have developed a structured mentoring and education process, which includes an individualized development plan, monthly integrative and individual mentoring sessions, and an educational series in research fundamentals and health disparities. Our mentoring approach is enhanced through the integration of the Research Education Core with the Administrative, Community Liaison and Outreach, and Analysis Cores. The MCUAAAR faculty have developed a proven strategy to successfully mentor junior researchers, and the MCUAAR faculty are active major researchers in the field of African American life-course development and aging. Based upon this proven track record, the Michigan Center for Research on Urban African American Aging Research is clearly well-suited to contribute to the development of the next generation of RCMAR scientists.
