91Ó°ÊÓ

Cancer Research and Health Disparities:

The Center's research efforts are distinctly oriented toward addressing the disproportionate impact of cancer on underserved populations. This includes targeted research focused on increasing the diversity of patient data available for translational research. We have established a strong and innovative genomic program specifically focusing on delivering genomic testing and genotyping services to diverse and underserved populations. This novel approach sets us apart, as we can seamlessly integrate basic science into translational and clinical health research. Our ultimate goal is to effectively address and narrow the health disparity gap, especially in evolving healthcare dynamics. This endeavor represents a significant step forward in meeting a critical need that most institutions find challenging to fulfill. 

• Breast Cancer: Investigating the biological and environmental factors that contribute to higher incidence rates and worse outcomes in underserved populations. CBR’s initiatives aim to discover new treatments and improve diagnostic techniques that are accessible and effective across diverse communities. 

• Prostate Cancer: Dedicated studies focus on understanding the disparities in prostate cancer prevalence and outcomes, particularly among African American men, who are disproportionately affected. Research includes genetic studies and the development of culturally tailored educational and prevention strategies. 

• Cervical Cancer: Research targets the socioeconomic and racial disparities that lead to varied prognosis and treatment outcomes in cervical cancer. Efforts aim to improve screening, vaccination, and treatment accessibility to mitigate these disparities. 

Biomedical Research Support 

The CBR is a central hub for biomedical research, providing state-of-the-art facilities and resources that facilitate cutting-edge research into complex biological and medical challenges. The center supports various projects, from basic biological studies to advanced biomedical investigations, offering resources such as advanced imaging and genetic sequencing tools essential for modern biomedical research.

Clinical Research Enhancement 

In clinical research, the CBR enhances 91Ó°ÊÓ’s ability to conduct large-scale clinical trials and patient-centered studies. The Center offers guidance and support in navigating regulatory compliance, securing funding, and managing data, significantly boosting the university’s capacity to translate laboratory findings into clinical applications that directly benefit patient care. 

Population Behavior Research Initiatives 

Understanding the behavioral aspects of health is vital for effective public health strategies. The CBR supports researchers studying population behavior by offering tools and resources to analyze large datasets and conduct epidemiological studies. This research focus is crucial for developing interventions that can improve health outcomes at the community and population levels.

Bioinformatics and Data Analysis Support 

One of the Center’s key strengths is its bioinformatics support, crucial for researchers dealing with large-scale biological data. The CBR provides expertise in data analysis, statistical support, and genomic and proteomic research software. This support is indispensable for researchers aiming to make sense of complex datasets and derive meaningful conclusions from their studies. 

Infrastructure and Resource Allocation 

The CBR significantly enhances the university's research infrastructure by offering access to specialized laboratories, high-performance computing facilities, and collaboration spaces. These resources are designed to foster innovation and facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers across various departments.

Grants and Funding Assistance 

The CBR also plays an essential role in assisting researchers in identifying and applying for grants. The Center’s support helps secure funding from diverse sources, including federal grants, private foundations, and industry partnerships, which is crucial for advancing the university’s research agenda.

As the CBR continues expanding its outreach and research efforts, it remains committed to reducing cancer-related health disparities through innovative research, community engagement, and clinical excellence. Future initiatives will focus on enhancing the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies to personalize individual healthcare further and improve associated diagnostic and treatment modalities

Core 1

The Shareable Instrumentation Facility

Core I provides 91Ó°ÊÓ's researchers with the necessary equipment to conduct flexible and thorough studies. This facility allows on-site use of an array of equipment that would otherwise be inaccessible to individual researchers due to budgetary constraints. The instrumentation is divided between two locations: Williams-Bowie Research Building and Carver Research Building. Additionally, two full-time employees ensure that all users are properly trained and that equipment stays in a ready-to-use state.  

Resources within this core offer the following capabilities: Digital Wide-field and Confocal Microscopy, Gene Expression Analysis, Flow Cytometry, Microplate Reading (Absorbance, Fluorescence and Luminescence), Gel Imaging, Tissue Culture, HPLC, GC/MS, Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis, Electroporation, Ultra-High-Speed Centrifugation, Film Processing and InVivo Imaging. 

Available Instruments Include: 

1. Digital Imaging:

Two Confocal Fluorescent Microscopes:                                                              

• Olympus Laser Scanning Confocal (Fluoview Software) 

• Olympus Spinning Disk Confocal (MetaMorph Software) 

Capable of imaging live cell experiments

Two Wide-Field Fluorescent Microscopes: (CellSens Software)

• Leica Upright

• Leica Inverted

Two Olympus Wide- Field Fluorescent Microscopes: (CellSens Software) 

• Inverted 

• Upright

• ·One IHC Microscope:

• Upright (CellSens Software)

An IVIS Lumina XR is housed on the 1st floor of WB Hall : 

• Multimodal imaging
  • Fluorescence, bioluminescence, x-ray and photography
• Compatible with rats, mice, cell cultures, bacterial cultures, and microplates
• Operated using Living Image software 

Three Flow Cytometers are available: 

A Sony iCyt EC800 system is located in WB Hall room 2055Operated using EC800 Software  

A FACSCalibur system is located in WB Hall room 2055.

• Operated using FlowJo software

An Accuri C6 is located in Carver Research Building room 31. 

• Operated using CFlow software

2. Gene Expression 

Five plate readers are distributed between WB Hall and CRB: 

WB Hall Room 2017:

• One BioWave XS (absorbance)

• One Synergy 2 (luminescence)

• Both operated using Gen5 2.0 software

CRB Room 19:

• One Synergy HT (fluorescence and absorbance)

Operated using Gen5 2.0 software

CRB Room 31:

• One ThermoMax (absorbance)

• One SpectroMax Gemini EM (luminescence)

• Both are operated using SoftMax Pro software

Two Real-Time PCR Systems are located in WB Hall room 2017: 

• Stratagene Mx3000P
• Stratagene Mx3005P
• Both systems are operated using MXPro software
• Two Eppendorf thermocyclers are also available within the same space

3. Chromatography 

One HPLC is in WB Hall room 2025:

• Operated using Karat 32 software

4. Cell Culture 

Two cell culture facilities are also available:

• One is located in WB Hall room 2023
• One is located in CRB room 27

Animal Facility & Pathology Services:

The College has a modern animal facility capable of accommodating from rodents to large animals and well-organized Comparative Medicine Resource Center (CMRC) for research involving laboratory animals and small ruminants. The facility provides all services to researchers who have projects approved for animal use. The animal facility serves the biomedical research community in the university and is fully equipped with, among others, offices, garment changing areas, animal isolation/quarantine, housing rooms (for both conventional and special accommodations), and rooms for feed storage, cold holding and necropsy. A designated attending veterinarian, a facility manager, a center director and adequate non-technical support personnel are available.

Pathology services are provided to the clinical and research community on a fee-for-service basis. Fully equipped and man-powered tissue processing service facility is located in Williams-Bowie building. One board-certified veterinary pathologist and three faculty (with a Doctorate degree in Anatomical Pathology) are available for consultation. 

Infrastructure Development in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBB)

The goal of Core II: Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBB) is to continue strengthening the optimal use of computational resources and Information Technology (IT) by Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) researchers at 91Ó°ÊÓ (TU) to address health disparities in under served communities. The CBB's multidisciplinary faculty and staff at 91Ó°ÊÓ's Center for Computational Epidemiology, Bioinformatics & Risk Analysis (CCEBRA) and its' counterpart, Biomedical Information Management Systems (BIMS) provide services and training in computational biology, bioinformatics, experimental design and statistical analysis etc. to the RCMI researchers and the biomedical research community at TU. Of central importance is the fact that the CCEBRA research team works in conjunction with BIMS' strong IT team. The BIMS team provides all IT needs of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health including the RCMI web page at TU, development of online application forms and different database management. The team also provides technical support and training for both hardware and software as well as troubleshooting.

Overarching Aims:

1. Sponsor Computational Biology and Bioinformatics and related workshops to train scientists, graduate-students and undergraduate-students to become competent in the use of computational biology and bioinformatics resources that are available at the CBB at TU. This includes accessing, searching and extracting data from national and international bioinformatics databases, genomics facilities and sequencing facilities.
2. Increase the CBB resources selectively to create sustainable research capacity and state-of-the-art professional development support for RCMI scientists and other researchers;
3. Promote collaborative research among RCMI scientists at TU as well as at other institutions. Active collaboration with the RCMI-Translational Research Network (RTRN) is most important in this arena. This includes providing a common data management and application development framework, with a robust services-oriented-infrastructure that standardizes and streamlines the RCMI's researcher community collaborations; and
4. Create a Telehealth/ Telemedicine infrastructure at CBR to address health disparities in the BBC of Alabama.

Services:

CBB has been providing services in four major areas:
Bioinformatics service delivery capacity;
Computational biology support;
Statistical analysis support; and
IT support
Specifically, services being provided by CBB to TU researchers include:
Software related
Data Modeling
Development environment (Test, Develop, production environment)
DNA and RNA Sequence Analysis

Provide Biostatistics consultation to RCMI researchers:
Develop and provide high-level bioinformatics capabilities and services, including the storage, management, curation, integration and collaborative annotation of -omic data, generated by TU researchers;
Ensure best practice in bioinformatics and statistical analysis of all research data, and the transfer of technology and skills into the application of research in the area of health disparities;
Establish and consolidate links with RTRN/RCMI institutions and with other major bioinformatics centers and programs; and

Leverage TeraGrid resources:This team will train faculty and staff so they can tap into the ample resources of TeraGrid. TeraGrid is an open scientific discovery infrastructure that combines leadership and enterprise-class resources at eight partner sites to create an integrated, persistent computational resource. TeraGrid integrates high-performance computers, data resources and tools for high-end experimental facilities around the country. These integrated resources include more than 102 Teraflops (i.e., 1012 or trillions) of computing capabilities and more than 15 petabytes (quadrillions of bytes) of online and archival data storage, with rapid access and retrieval over high-performance networks. Through the TeraGrid, researchers can access over 100 discipline-specific databases. With this combination of resources, the TeraGrid is the world's largest, most comprehensive distributed cyber-infrastructure for open scientific research.

Database Development:
Outcome assessments tool development from the database development to the analysis
Back-end interfacing to data processing systems and displays
Privacy protection and security assessment

Web based software tools:
Web interface
Website development, hosting and maintenance
Search engine development and management
Webpage student statistics

Workflow technology:
Network security and monitoring
Systems design and development
Testing and deployment of collaborative technologies

Training and Workshops:
Seminar and Workshop Series
Participate in Bioinformatics webinar series in collaboration with RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN) Bioinformatics working group
Consultant epidemiological services to investigators in the areas of Cancer, HIV/AIDS, and other infectious diseases

Videoconferencing:
Two pilot Internet Telemedicine/Telehealth centers have been set up
The first center is with Medical Aids Outreach where two Apple laptop computers were provided for use in providing services to their clients (like: education, counseling) and to facilitate remote meetings connecting their main office to their branch offices which are located in different counties and are apart more than 45 minutes. The second center is based in Macon County and we have provided one Apple laptop computer
Other Basic Services:
Consultation regarding software, hardware and accessories
Quality control of the core lab computers
Troubleshooting of networks, PC's, Mac's, and servers
Facilitate advice, lead, coordinate and manage bioinformatics capabilities at TU in the area of the Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics (-omics) platforms;

Genomics Processes Include:

• Assembly
• Annotation
• Mapping
• Searching Non-Coding RNA
• Disease Association
• Comparative Genomics
• New Tools for Alignment
• Phylogenetic
• Visualization
• Transcriptomics Processes Includes:
• Similarity Searching and Clustering
• Alternative Splicing
• Annotation
• Gene Expression and Statistical Analysis
• Small RNA Gene Identification
• Visualization
• Proteomics Processes Include:
• Peptide Mass Fingerprinting Analyses
• Custom Protein Data sets
• Visualization

91Ó°ÊÓ Center for Biomedical Research (CBR) Research Centers at Minority Institutions (RCMI) proposes the Investigator Development Core (IDC) to accelerate its past achievements in enhancing the professional development and success of junior faculty supported by the program. Towards this goal, it will provide junior-level and early-stage investigators at 91Ó°ÊÓ (TU) with the necessary resources and training to assist them in their move to the status of independent researchers, with primary focus on the topics of minority health and health disparities. The IDC is intended to support primarily: 1) Faculty members who are already in the field of biomedical research but, because of their junior status, require a period of mentored career development in order to become independent scientists in the fields of minority health and health disparities research; 2) Faculty who are considered early-stage investigators in either non-biomedical or biomedical field, and interested in minority health research or the translation of their existing research to the topics of minority health; and 3) Researchers who propose an approach that will have a substantial impact on the health outcomes in the Black Belt Counties of Alabama.

More specifically, IDC aims to: 1) Provide funding for pilot research projects from junior level or early-stage faculty who propose projects that address minority health and health disparities or enhance TU research capacity, 2) Coordinate and facilitate mentorship, training, and professional developmental activities for pilot project investigators and other TU faculty with potential to initiate minority health projects, and 3) Establish broader affiliation of TU faculty with the CBR and engage them in Center activities to create awareness and to promote greater participation in the overall aims of the CBR/RCMI.

To achieve these aims, the IDC will coordinate and integrate its efforts with the Administrative Core, the Capacity Building Core, the Community Engagement Core, our existing extramural collaborative networks and the CBR program evaluation system. Multiple internal and external resources will be leveraged and synergized to develop a broad-based investigator pool to grow biomedical research at TU to even higher levels. The IDC support is expected to advance the professional growth of junior faculty at TU by enhancing their productivity, competitiveness, and potential to be established researchers on priority diseases in the community.

The Community Engagement Core (CEC) advances methods for stimulating research participation, recruitment, and participant retention through collaborations between community residents and the RCMI faculty. The CEC will establish "long-term partnerships with community-based organizations" that are programmatically equipped to address health and socioeconomic disparities among rural populations. CEC has developed strong partnering relationships with community organizations and will leverage such respurces to resources form a mutually effective link between CEC faculty and Tuskegee/Macon County residents.

The CEC will accomplish this by instituting community-involved scientific discoveries that include the following specific Aims:

• Specific Aim 1:

  Convene a Black Belt Regional Community Research Advisory Roundtable (BRCRAR) to facilitate input into the RCMI activities and research projects and to promote awareness of the 91Ó°ÊÓ RCMI.

• Specific Aim 2: Engage residents in town hall meetings to foster a learning and mentorship exchange throughout the RCMI Cores and community organizations.
  
  
• Specific Aim 3: Implement and evaluate an evidenced-based, theory-informed, and multi-level campaign for education on cancer genomics and bio-specimen donation.
  
  
• Specific Aim 4: Establish a synergistic data linkage system across the RCMI Cores.

Significance and Impact:

Project significance is revealed in the socioeconomic character of the Black Belt region, where residents often struggle with the basic needs. In a region where residents have substantial potential to make contributions to society, progress is slowed as economic problems persist with the out-migration of textile manufacturing, voter redistricting favoring urban population centers, a brain drain, and the lack of state funding for infrastructure.

The roots of health disparities are embedding in the socioeconomic disadvantages experienced by African Americans. The Core Leader has demonstrated how housing, labor, and tax distribution policy is used to manipulate market forces, which leads to a vicious cycle that includes poor development of human capital, low participation in the labor force, unstable family circumstances, and disadvantaged neighborhood environments. These economic effects disproportionately affect African American social and health outcomes and create inequities between African Americans and more advantaged groups.

As described above, health disparities are mediated by human capital, which is the amount of scholastic and experimental knowledge that, when translated into skills, can be exchanged in an economy. Human capital places value on the level of education, technical skills, and personal experiences possessed by an individual or group. Human capital therefore affects health disparities through the distribution of education, as knowledge affects health behavior. It also affects health disparities through financial empowerment, as knowledge determines if one can procure health services and resources for a healthy lifestyle. Furthermore, because it links individuals to causes beyond the self, human capital is the linchpin holding together interest in research participation, interest in research findings, self-efficacy, health behavior, and health beliefs.

This proposed project is also relevant because it seeks to empower a community that has experienced racial, political, and economic disadvantages. There are extensive social and economic disparities, especially in the city of Tuskegee, compared to the rest of Alabama. According to data of the 2010 Census, Tuskegee is 95.8% African American, and 22% of households in Tuskegee report an annual income below the Federal poverty level, compared to 13% for the state. Median household income in Tuskegee is $24,251, compared t0 $42,081 for the state. Furthermore, 30.4% of Tuskegee residents receive food stamp benefits, compared to 11.4% for the state. Housing is a key element of the neighborhood environment. Tuskegee has a vacancy rate of approximately 19%, compared to 13% for the state and a homeownership rate of 46.6%, compared to 24.2% of the houses having values less than 50,000, compared to 133,800 and 10.3%, respectively, for the among residents of the Black Belt, specifically Tuskegee.

 The CEC leverages expertise in human capital to develop a research and community engagement strategy that empowers faculty and residents by integrating individuals from traditionally disadvantaged groups into the scientific enterprise. When there are high levels of disparities between advantaged and disadvantaged groups, distrust in institutions becomes commonplace. Empowering residents by giving them more control over the research process helps to mitigate this distrust.

The SCFL recently hosted a Partnering and Communicating Together (PACT)- sponsored town hall meeting on HIV titled “Youth and Community Town Hall: Hearing Impactful Voices.” It was streamed on Facebook Live on World AIDS Day, December 1, 2016. The use of Facebook live provided an opportunity to bring local event to a national audience. Questions and comments were filed locally at the event and nationally through social media. This innovative strategy for dissemination mixes a modern medium for communication (social media) with a traditional format (town hall meeting).

Specific Aim 1: Convene a council of community representatives and RCMI faculty to complete a needs assessment containing community-based recommendations for dissemination of effective obesity and HIV education. Develop 5-7 theories for hoe such dissemination can promote community participation in research.

Residents connect with research by understanding how scientific outcomes affect them. The CEC will convene a council of TU RCMI faculty and HEROs. They will devise a strategy to strengthen the nexus between faculty research and interests of residents. The strategy will be based on best practices for translating research into participation. From this, the council will determine what methods connect with residents. The council will commence at the beginning of the funding period, and they will convene twice a month for the first three months, for a total of 6 sessions.

The council will produce 5-7 key theories of participation. Each theory will determine how to tailor research dissemination to capture the economic, cultural, and social nuances that are relevant to residents but are often lost in scientific expression. The theories can be conceptualized as “if-then” hypotheses. For example, if RCMI faculty translates scientific lingo into practical, everyday language, community residents will have a better understanding of how results affect them and will be more likely to join in the research process. The RCMI-HERO council will have latitude to suggest various types of delivery, including multi-media, language, dialect, and presenters.

The CEC will produce a series of town hall meetings (Specific Aim 2), each based on theories developed by the council. The meetings are designed to test theory effectiveness in optimizing participation via tailored research dissemination. David Nganwa, a RCMI faculty member with expertise in developing survey instruments, will develop a pre- and post-test survey to assess effectiveness. The survey will measure the following 1) resident likelihood in participating in research before and after the meeting; 2) The elements of the town hall dissemination that resonated with participants, and 3) Demographic characteristics of the residents.

Specific Aim 2: Engage residents in town hall meetings serving as a medium for dissemination of faculty research. Measure the effectiveness of these meetings through surveys. Compare survey outcomes.

The HERO and TU Research faculty council will produce an outline for six town hall meetings based on theories of participation developed during Specific Aim 1. Pre- and post-town hall surveys will be administered to assess the correlation between knowledge of research topics and the willingness of residents to participate in research. If the theories are effective, participants will have enhanced knowledge of the research topic, which creates a stronger connection between them and the science. This connection is hypothesized to increase their likelihood of participating in scientific studies.

The survey is an 8-item, Likert instrument. Four items measure resident knowledge of the topic presented, and four measure the likelihood that they would participate in a scientific study given what they know. We will calculate the correlation between knowledge and likelihood of participation before ad after each meeting. Stronger positive correlations after meetings would indicate an effective strategy for dissemination. Effect sizes using the separate variables (education, likelihood of participation) will also be calculated.

The town hall meetings will be facilitated by the SCLF (please see  ), a national nonprofit with strong roots in 91Ó°ÊÓ. (The national headquarters is based in Tuskegee.) Several of its employees and volunteers are students at TU or are residents of Tuskegee, creating a rare environment of cooperation between the university and the town. The SCLF has experience in delivering health education. The SCLF is the recipient of the Partnering and Communicating Together (PACT) grant from the CDC. The objective of the grant is to administer HIV education through community events, media impressions, and social media. The Community Engagement Core Leader serves as the Evaluator of this grant.

The town hall meetings will borrow from the Tuskegee Citizens Power Lunch, and existing program in Tuskegee intended to promote economic empowerment through collective efficacy, a measure that assesses the ability of residents to accomplish shared goals through community engagement. The Core Leader serves as Principal Investigator for the Tuskegee Citizens Power Lunch Program. A goal of the Power Lunch is to provide a mechanism for increasing collective efficacy among residents using a community-centered forum that addresses key problems associated with economic disadvantage. The Power Lunches (ongoing) have produced the following:

1. A large cadre of recorded dialogue that can be transcribed into qualitative data
2. Increased student involvement with business leaders and residents in Tuskegee
3. Business sponsorship
4. Enduring relationships with businesses leaders
5. An “economic needs” assessment report for Tuskegee

In addition to testing the theories of participation from Specific Aim 1, the town hall meetings will address the primary issue of the economic needs- assessment report developed during the Power Lunch: Unity among the university community and Tuskegee residents.

HEROs. Mrs. Bernice Frazier, the Executive Director of the SCLF, will organize the HERO team of community leaders and concerned citizens. The HEROs will be selected from the civic leaders, business leaders, ordinary residents, and students involved in the Power Lunches as well as from the PACT Board of Directors. There will be amplifying the research, health, and economic needs of the community.

Given its experience and expertise, the SCLF will market, host, and produce bimonthly town hall meetings, ensuring that they serve as a mechanism for the following:

1. Testing the viability of each theory of participation through effective dissemination. A pre and post-test survey will determine if the method of dissemination in each town hall meeting was effective in increasing the likelihood of future research participation and retention.
2. Dissemination of education resources. Education resources consist of HERO-recommend content delivered to a local, in-person audience and to a wider audience via Facebook live stream.
3. Recruitment of study participants. The town hall meetings are structured to educate, which promotes human capital among the audience. By increasing individual human capital – in this case in the form of health education – potential participants will control the spread of information, minimizing distrust. (Distrust is a key factor in reducing participation rates.) Furthermore, the town hall meetings will have a five-minute segment dedicated to recruitment advertising in which HEROs will discuss the importance of participation. The local audience will receive study materials.
4. Retention of study participants. Study participants will have a stake in the information they produce, as it becomes sections of the town hall content.
5. Dissemination of research findings. HERO-developed content for the town hall meetings will emphasize study results.

Streaming of the town hall meetings will allow information emanating from Tuskegee to spread across a national audience. With this method, the meetings will combine traditional, in-person collaboration with modern social media networking. The meetings will therefore maintain a small-town character while appealing to a larger audience. Facebook Analytics will allow us to collect data on viewership.

In years 2-5, TU faculty members will continue to empower the community using the method of dissemination empirically proven to be the most effective in year 1.

Specific Aim 3: Develop a model of optimal participation based on the scientific assessment of town hall meetings.

Data from each meeting will be collected and securely stored by Research Associates. The RCMI Leadership will analyze the data. Analysis involves examining pre and post town hall surveys. The meeting that has the largest effect size will be selected as the strongest connector of residents with scientific research.

TU faculty and HEROs will examine the theory and dissemination strategy associated with the strongest town hall meeting. From this, TU faculty will develop a model illustrating best practices in community engagement.

Evaluation

The model developed from assessments of town hall meetings will serve as the benchmark for connecting residents with scientific investigations in the Tuskegee/Macon County area. In Years 2-3, the model will be tested again during town hall meetings. Stable or increased effect sizes over time would reflect sustainability of the delivery method.

Specific Aim 4: Promote Community-Engagement Interdisciplinary Learning and Mentorship.

The Core Leader is committed to student development and to the long-term goal of promoting community-engaged, interdisciplinary learning focused on health and social science-related research careers that promote health equity. To this end, the Core will partner with two under-resourced area high schools to establish a training pipeline of high school students to enter a four-year undergraduate degree programs and thereby increase diversity in the scientific workforce.

The Innovative Learning and Mentorship team will develop a series of health education modules using the delivery method defined in Specific Aim 2 and 3. The modules will be shared with students participating in a group to be defined as future Black Belt health and economic researchers. The innovative learning and mentorship program seeks to: 1) introduce students to healthy-equity, health disparities, and human capital educational modules and corresponding health and social science-related careers; 2) introduce students to leadership training through mentorship delivered by local community members; 3) introduce students to research methods such as qualitative, quantitative, and community-based participatory research: 4) utilize non-traditional, innovative methods to engage students in research dissemination; and 5) enhance idea production and development intended to ignite future innovation in the social and behavioral sciences.

The program, administered in years 2-5, will be implemented by Dr. Faith Fletcher, a graduate of 91Ó°ÊÓ. Relevant to this application, she received bioethics training through the National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health at 91Ó°ÊÓ and graduate-level training through Michigan State University’s interdisciplinary program in Bioethics, Humanities, and Society. Dr. Fletcher also completed her PhD in Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior at the University of South Carolina School of Public Health, and a postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Sciences and Cancer Prevention at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Fletcher has more than a decade of experience in designing health behavioral interventions for disadvantaged populations, health disparities research, publishing, and grantsmanship. She has also developed a student-based, health behavior intervention for Carver High School in Birmingham, Alabama.

The schematic approach to Specific Aim 4 promotes community engagement by integrating high school students into the research process at its initial stage. By engaging students in innovative learning and mentoring, they gain human capital development that includes:

1. Learning the conceptual nuances of conducting basic research
2. Developing presentation skills (public speaking)
3. Understanding hoe economic factors and health disparities are linked
4. Developing a network of mentor advocates

In her role, Dr. Fletcher will borrow from the NIH-funded HiStep program ( ). HiStep combines an introduction to scientific, professional, and personal skills with leadership training and an exploration of STEM-M (science, technology, engineering, math, and medically-related) careers. In addition, it provides college and career advice that assists participants in receiving future scholarships and internships.

Overall, mentoring will promote a virtuous circle of healthy lifestyle practices, human capital development, economic development, and a high quality of life. At the end of each semester, students will be required to develop a presentation reflecting what they learned and how it is affecting their lives.