The University of California, San Diego announced Tuesday that it will hire 12 diverse early-career research faculty members in the biomedical sciences with a $16 million grant over five years from the National Institutes of Health.

The grant from NIH’s Faculty Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation Program is the largest ever received by UCSD to strengthen faculty diversity. UCSD is the only UC institution to receive funding for the FIRST cohort.

The NIH notes that the lack of “mentoring, career development guidance, access to professional networks, and integration into the institutional structure” contributes to the disproportionately underrepresented number of underrepresented faculty and women in the biomedical workforce. identified as the cause.

Led by UCSD’s JoAnn Trejo, Professor of Pharmacology, and Maraa Elena Martinez, Professor of Public Health, the program consists of “four areas of research (cancer, cardiovascular disease, infectious diseases/immunology and neuroscience”) and the university’s the statement said.

“University of California, San Diego is one of the most well-developed biomedical research environments in the world, but like any research-intensive institution, we have effective programs to foster diversity and comprehensive excellence in our faculty. is in short supply,” says Trejo. “The interdisciplinary nature of the four research clusters we have selected and the strength of existing cross-campus faculty collaborations between health sciences, biological sciences, engineering, physical sciences and social sciences make the FIRST program Guaranteed to impact the entire medical research enterprise. Universities.”

The funding will also launch programs developed by UCSD’s Office of Faculty and Staff and enhance existing programs to enhance faculty recruitment, retention, success, and inclusion.

“The FIRST program is an expansion of a pilot initiative to recruit and employ underrepresented faculty in the health sciences,” says Martinez. “By introducing a cohort model into our recruitment and onboarding efforts, we are able to develop a community that supports faculty recruited through the FIRST program. Strengthening the career development of our faculty is key to our success.”

FIRST program funding follows two other university-wide initiatives focused on enhancing faculty diversity. The University of California, San Diego recently received a $1 million grant through the University of California’s Advancing Faculty Diversity Program. It aims to increase faculty diversity, promote innovative research, and integrate culture into the curriculum.

– City News Service