Obesity Health Disparities PRIDE is an evidence-based, culturally- and environmentally-relevant research training and mentoring program focusing on obesity prevention and treatment, including community-based interventions. Early career faculty and transitioning postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented backgrounds who are graduates of, or are currently employed at, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are eligible to apply.
A distinguished group of mentors and instructors (many of whom are from underrepresented backgrounds) have been assembled to provide skills training and mentoring to help participants develop programs of research that develop and evaluate community-based interventions to address obesity disparities.
Obesity Health Disparities PRIDE (OHD PRIDE) is funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), an institute within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH encourages institutions to diversify their faculty populations to enhance the participation of individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, and women at senior faculty levels.
OHD PRIDE is a two-year training program that consists of four primary elements:
- Summer Session I: The initial session of OHD PRIDE is an intensive 10-day face-to-face program composed of “advanced and refresher mini courses” in obesity research, data collection, data analysis, intervention development, and research methods as well as skill-enhancement sessions including scientific writing, journal publishing, grant application preparation, and the responsible conduct of research.
- Mid-year Meeting: OHD PRIDE participants will meet in-person with OHD PRIDE mentors faculty to receive individual- and group-level feedback on and support for their scientific manuscripts and research grant applications.
- Summer Session II: The final in-person component of OHD PRIDE will be an intensive program where participants will make formal presentation summarizing the research conducted during the research training period and attend advanced workshops on scientific writing, journal publishing, grant preparation, and mock study sections.
- Phase IV – The OHD PRIDE Alumni Network: Participants who complete the OHD PRIDE program will automatically become member of a professional network that will: provide quarterly webinars covering topics associated with scientific productivity and career advancement; be a conduit of research opportunities; and serve as a source of peer-mentoring and social support.
Eligibility Criteria:
Eight (8) research-oriented individuals from underrepresented backgrounds who are early-career faculty or transitioning postdoctoral fellows will be accepted in the OHD PRIDE program annually, through a competitive review process. OHD PRIDE has a special commitment to recruit applicants with faculty appointments at, or degrees from HBCUs.