Research Task Force

The Diversity Committee’s Task Force on Research aims to encourage diversity among the pool of department researchers, as well as research that addresses important topics relating to the diversity of individuals in human populations. The task force meets these objectives by highlighting the best examples of both researchers and research, highlighting relevant funding opportunities (including minority supplements for existing R01 grants), and providing resources to facilitate the inclusion of diversity in existing projects.

Task force members

	Susanna Fryer, PhD Co-chair		Susan Voglmaier, MD, PhD Co-chair
	Johanna Folk, PhD		Lisa Gunaydin, PhD
	Lauren Haack, PhD		Kaja LeWinn, ScD
	Rachel Nosheny, PhD		David Pennington, PhD

Underrepresented Minority (URM) Research Mentoring Award

The UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Underrepresented Minority (URM) Research Mentoring Award was established to recognize excellence in research mentorship of departmental trainees who are underrepresented minorities in medicine, including psychiatric and biobehavioral research fields. Full-time DPBS faculty members, across all ranks and series, are eligible for nomination by any department member or trainee. (Please note that volunteer faculty are not eligible for this award.)

Nominations for next year's award cycle will be accepted beginning in early 2022.

NIH diversity supplements

Looking to hire a college graduate into a junior specialist or staff resource associate (SRA) position? Consider applying for an NIH diversity supplement to support their research experience if they plan to go on to graduate school.

Per NIH guidelines, under-represented minorities in biomedical research include:

• The following racial and ethnic groups: African Americans, Hispanic Americas, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Hawaiian Natives, and natives of the US Pacific Islands.
• Individuals with disabilities, who are defined as those with a physical or mental impairment
• Individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. (Individuals who come from a family with an annual income below established low-income thresholds.)
   

More helpful information about NIH diversity supplements is available from CTSI, as well as an overview of the UCSF infrastructure in place to support diversity supplement proposals.

Download slides from this Research Town Hall
 

UCSF PROPEL Program

The UCSF Post-Baccalaureate Research Opportunity to Promote Equity in Learning (PROPEL) Program is a 1- to 2-year paid post-baccalaureate research opportunity serving 10-15 incoming post-bac researchers from groups underrepresented in science through a modest financial incentive for faculty hiring managers, career and professional development training sessions, networking opportunities, and laboratory mentorship. The trainees would have a salary (~41k) and benefits, some supported by NIH supplements in combination with additional incentives ($10-15K) to sponsor the lab work and training of the trainees in their labs.

If you have job openings in your lab, please consider listing them on the PROPEL website.

National grants for women and minority trainees

• APF awards
• APF research
• APA fellowships 
• ACNP travel awards for minorities and research awards for women
• BRAIN Initiative Advanced Postdoctoral Career Transition Award to Promote Diversity
• Burroughs Wellcome Fund Postdoctoral Diversity Enrichment Program
• Ford Foundation/National Academies Fellowship Program
• HHMI Hannah H. Gray Fellows Program
• L'Oréal USA Women in Science Program
• National Clinician Scholars Program
• NIH: Enhancing Diversity in Training Programs
• NIH: Ending Structural Racism
• NIMH James Jackson Memorial Award
• NSF Broadening Participation of Groups Underrepresented in Biology
• RWJF Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program
• SFARI Supplement to Enhance Equity and Diversity (SEED)
• Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science
• Yale University Wu Tsai Postdoctoral Fellowships 
   

UCSF grants and other resources

• Center for Aging in Diverse Communities Scientist Program
• Office of Diversity and Outreach listing of diversity grants
• Office of Diversity and Outreach listing of health disparities grants
• RAP: SOS for Underrepresented Faculty
• RAP: Family Support Awards
• UCSF-JUSTICE Spark Funding and Bridge Funding Awards
   

UCSF research centers focusing on women and minority populations

• Center for AIDS Prevention Studies
• Center for Vulnerable Populations
• Center of Excellence for Transgender Health
• Center of Excellence for Women’s Health
• Center for Aging in Diverse Communities
• CTSI Community Engagement Program
• Medical Effectiveness Research Center for Diverse Populations
   

Recommended reading

• Antiracism Resources, Support, and Action
• Talking About Race and Inequity in Science: Guide for Faculty
• Talking About Race and Inequity in Science: Guide for Students and Postdocs
• Programmatic Efforts at the National Institutes of Health to Promote and Support the Careers of Women in Biomedical Science (Academic Medicine)
• Mentoring to Foster a Diverse Future (Cell)
• On Being Black in the Ivory Tower (Cell)
• Strategies to Avoid Bias in Letters of Recommendation
• Gender Bias Calculator
• "In this lab, we believe..." Diversity and Inclusion Posters and Pledge
   

Selected publications

1. Magruder KM, Bichun Ouyang, Miller S, Tilley BC. Retention of under-represented minorities in drug abuse treatment studies. Clin Trials. 2009 Jun;6(3):252-60. PubMed PMID: 19528134.
2. Burns D, Soward AC, Skelly AH, Leeman J, Carlson J. Effective recruitment and retention strategies for older members of rural minorities. Diabetes Educ. 2008 Nov-Dec;34(6):1045-52. PubMed PMID: 19075086.
3. Baquet CR, Henderson K, Commiskey P, Morrow JN. Clinical trials: the art of enrollment. Semin OncolNurs. 2008 Nov;24(4):262-9. PubMed PMID: 19000600.
4. Davis RM, Hitch AD, Nichols M, Rizvi A, Salaam M, Mayer-Davis EJ. A collaborative approach to the recruitment and retention of minority patients with diabetes in rural community health centers. Contemp ClinTrials. 2009 Jan;30(1):63-70. Epub 2008 Sep 16. PubMed PMID: 18824135.
5. Robinson JM, Trochim WM. An examination of community members', researchers' and health professionals' perceptions of barriers to minority participation in medical research: an application of concept mapping. EthnHealth. 2007 Nov;12(5):521-39. PubMed PMID: 17978947.
6. El-Khorazaty MN, Johnson AA, Kiely M, El-Mohandes AA, Subramanian S, Laryea HA, Murray KB,Thornberry JS, Joseph JG. Recruitment and retention of low-income minority women in a behavioralintervention to reduce smoking, depression, and intimate partner violence during pregnancy. BMC PublicHealth. 2007 Sep 6;7:233. PubMed PMID: 17822526; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2020481.
7. Katz RV, Kegeles SS, Kressin NR, Green BL, Wang MQ, James SA, Russell SL, Claudio C. The Tuskegee Legacy Project: willingness of minorities to participate in biomedical research. J Health Care PoorUnderserved. 2006 Nov;17(4):698-715. PubMed PMID: 17242525; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1780164.
8. Amador TK, Travis SS, McAuley WJ, Bernard M, McCutcheon M. Recruitment and retention of ethnically diverse long-term family caregivers for research. J Gerontol Soc Work. 2006;47(3-4):139-52. PubMedPMID: 17062527.
9. Yancey AK, Ortega AN, Kumanyika SK. Effective recruitment and retention of minority research participants. Annu Rev Public Health. 2006;27:1-28. Review. PubMed PMID: 16533107.
10. Wiemann CM, Chacko MR, Tucker JC, Velasquez MM, Smith PB, DiClemente RJ, von Sternberg K. Enhancing recruitment and retention of minority young women in community-based clinical research. JPediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2005 Dec;18(6):403-7. PubMed PMID: 16338606.
11. Keller CS, Gonzales A, Fleuriet KJ. Retention of minority participants in clinical research studies. West JNurs Res. 2005 Apr;27(3):292-306. PubMed PMID: 15781904.
12. Dilworth-Anderson P, Williams SW. Recruitment and retention strategies for longitudinal African American caregiving research: the Family Caregiving Project. J Aging Health. 2004 Nov;16(5 Suppl):137S-56S.PubMed PMID: 15448291.
13. Moreno-John G, Gachie A, Fleming CM, Nápoles-Springer A, Mutran E, Manson SM, Pérez-Stable EJ. Ethnic minority older adults participating in clinical research: developing trust. J Aging Health. 2004Nov;16(5 Suppl):93S-123S. PubMed PMID: 15448289.
14. Stahl SM, Vasquez L. Approaches to improving recruitment and retention of minority elders participating in research: examples from selected research groups including the National Institute on Aging's ResourceCenters for Minority Aging Research. J Aging Health. 2004 Nov;16(5 Suppl):9S-17S. PubMed PMID:15448284.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15448284
15. Steinke EE. Research ethics, informed consent, and participant recruitment. Clin Nurse Spec. 2004 Mar-Apr;18(2):88-95; quiz 96-7. Review. PubMed PMID: 15164670.
16. Areán PA, Alvidrez J, Nery R, Estes C, Linkins K. Recruitment and retention of older minorities in mental health services research. Gerontologist. 2003 Feb;43(1):36-44. PubMed PMID: 12604744.
17. Levkoff S, Sanchez H. Lessons learned about minority recruitment and retention from the Centers on Minority Aging and Health Promotion. Gerontologist. 2003 Feb;43(1):18-26. Review. PubMed PMID:12604742.
18. Escobar-Chaves SL, Tortolero SR, Mâsse LC, Watson KB, Fulton JE. Recruiting and retaining minority women: findings from the Women on the Move study. Ethn Dis. 2002 Spring;12(2):242-51. PubMed PMID:12019934.
19. Janson SL, Alioto ME, Boushey HA; Asthma Clinical Trials Network. Attrition and retention of ethnically diverse subjects in a multicenter randomized controlled research trial. Control Clin Trials. 2001 Dec;22(6Suppl):236S-43S. PubMed PMID: 11728627.
20. Gilliss CL, Lee KA, Gutierrez Y, Taylor D, Beyene Y, Neuhaus J, Murrell N. Recruitment and retention of healthy minority women into community-based longitudinal research. J Womens Health Gend Based Med.2001 Jan-Feb;10(1):77-85. PubMed PMID: 11224947.
21. Chaudhary VB, Berhe AA. Ten simple rules for building an antiracist lab. PLoS Comput Biol. 2020 Oct 1;16(10):e1008210. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008210. PMID: 33001989; PMCID: PMC7529192.
22. Gilpin NW, Taffe MA. Toward an anti-racist approach to biomedical and neuroscience research. J Neurosci. 2021 Oct 20;41(42):8669-8672. doi: 10.1425/jneurosci.1319-21.2021. PMID: pending.
23. Llorens A, Tzovara A, ...Dronkers NF. Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions. Neuron. 2021 Jul 7;109(13):2047-2074. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002. PMID: 34237278.