Katrina R. Ellis, Ph.D., assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Michigan has been selected to take part in the Obesity Health Disparities Programs to Increase Diversity among Individuals Engaged in Health-Related Research (PRIDE) Program.
The John D. Bower School of Population Health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center announced the fourth cohort of early career faculty selected from a competitive pool of applicants. Eight scholars, predominately from Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the nation, will arrive in Jackson June 16 to launch their two-year research training opportunity. First funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute within the National Institutes of Health in 2014, the goal of OHD PRIDE is to increase the number of underrepresented minority faculty having independent research careers focused on obesity disparities and chronic diseases related to obesity.
According to reports from State of Obesity, a health policy research initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, obesity rates in the United States have reached a level of more than 35 percent in seven states. Among African American women, that rate is 57.2 percent.
“The renewal of this significant research training and mentoring grant provides a unique opportunity for early career investigators from groups underrepresented in biomedical sciences to enhance their research toolkits, strengthen their manuscript and grant writing skills and expand their professional networks,” Beech said. “Our research team is looking forward to working with these newly selected scholars and helping to further their development into successful, independent investigators.”
OHD PRIDE consists of four phases. Phase I, Summer Institute I, begins June 16 and consists of ten days of face-to-face didactic and interactive courses in obesity research, data collection, data analysis, intervention development and research methods, and one-on-one mentoring and career coaching. Phase II, the mid-year meeting, will allow mentees to meet with scholars to discuss research progress and provide feedback on manuscripts and grant applications. Phase III, Summer Institute II, will take place during the summer of 2020 in Jackson. Scholars will take part in mock study sections, receive critical reviews of their manuscripts, finalize plans for grant submissions and attend the Annual PRIDE research meeting in Bethesda, Maryland. In Phase IV, scholars will join the OHD PRIDE Alumni Network and take part in quarterly seminars on career advancement, peer mentoring and social support.
OHD PRIDE is one of only nine PRIDE sites in the United States sponsored by the NHLBI. While each program has a unique, specialized research focus, the common goal of all PRIDE programs is to increase the diversity of individuals engaged in health-related research.