CORE D: INVESTIGATOR DEVELOPMENT CORE

The near absence of diversity among the ranks of tenured faculty presents a major barrier to the retention of minority investigators (National Academy of Sciences, 2000). The importance of institutional commitment to achieving diversity in the ranks of tenured faculty cannot be overestimated. Only through assertive, supportive, and continual mentoring relationships, combined with individualized career development opportunities, will the necessary corps of professionals be sufficiently well developed to eliminate disparities and provide quality culturally competent care. Furthermore, an educational institution’s workforce diversification initiatives should focus first and foremost on developing minority professionals in proportion to the diversity of races, ethnicities, and cultures that compose the clinical populations of communities served. The population of South Carolina is over 30% African-American. Therefore, this Investigator Development Core (IDC) will be first and foremost committed to aggressively pursuing the professional career development of investigators of African American descent.

The specific aims of the IDC described in the following pages are to:
1. Identify, recruit, train, and mentor African American post-doctoral research fellows and junior faculty to increase the number of African American professionals capable of conducting research;
2. Establish and maintain learning and mentoring relationships between established researchers and early career African American investigators and assertively promote their full academic career development;
3. Improve methodological skills of investigators through participation in Pilot Studies intended to reduce health status and access differentials between African American elders and their majority counterparts;
4. Employ the Pilot Studies as the basis for preparing independent investigator-initiated awards led by African American researchers;
5. Meaningfully disseminate new information significant to the health of aging African Americans;
6. Monitor the appropriateness and effectiveness of career development and mentoring activities; and
7. Work closely with the Coordinating Center to plan and monitor the collective progress of RCMAR sites in meeting its goals for all investigators.