Research that listens
Community engagement is a core tenet of translational science , in that research is enhanced when researchers engage and learn from the community where they work . Joedrecka Brown Speights , chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health , leads that team . It is unique in that it has both FSU faculty and a community advisory board , all leaders who are committed to ensuring that diversity and equity are the cornerstones of health care .
One of the major initiatives of the team is hosting an annual “ Our Community , Our Health ” event that features multiple speakers from the community and the universities . The event in 2020 , titled “ Covid-19 as a health disparity magnifier : the untold stories ” featured a live discussion via Zoom about how health-care disparities and health delivery equity challenges in Leon and Gadsden counties were further magnified by the pandemic .
Building the next generation of researchers
Naar is also involved in two projects that help junior faculty launch their research careers . One is an interdisciplinary project funded by NIH to build a diverse community of early-career researchers committed to improving mental health and chronic disease prevention and management . FSU will use the $ 12.8 million grant to create the FLORIDA-FIRST BRIGADE , designed to support new tenure-track assistant professors and build a research community committed to diversity and inclusive excellence by developing an innovative model to retool the processes for minority recruitment , advancement , and retention at FSU . Researchers from the College of Nursing and the College of Arts and Sciences ’ Department of Psychology will join Naar in leading the project .
The other is a program under the umbrella of the joint UF / FSU CTSA grant called the K Scholar program , which supports mentored career development for junior faculty beginning early-career translational and / or clinical research . Part of the Training and Workforce Development Program , K Scholar is one of several teams that support career training in translational science and is led by Naar .
K Scholar includes 16 early-career scientists : eight from the College of Medicine ; two from the College of Communication and Information ; three from the College of Nursing ; and one each from Education , Social Work and Computer Science . Their training includes preparing competitive proposals for external funding of their research , formal mentorship with experts in their field of interest , and formal coursework in responsible conduct of research , behavioral sciences , biostatistics and epidemiology .
Team Science trains the scholars in methodological strategies to enhance the collaborative impact of team-based research . Its impact is enhanced by providing workshops for graduate students , post-doctoral researchers and early to mid-stage career faculty . The medical student research program is led by Suzanne Baker , assistant dean for graduate programs and medical student research .
The Network for Clinical Research and Training is also supported by the CTSA . Based in Tallahassee , it has a second location at the medical school ’ s Orlando Regional Campus . The five-member team provides direct support for many aspects of clinical research , including clinical trial protocol development , human subjects research training , development of regulatory documents , clinical data acquisition , and data management and analysis .
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