Implementation of the Steps Toward Academic Research (STAR) Fellowship Program to Promote Underrepresented Minority Faculty into Health Disparity Research

Eliminating disparities in health can benefit from the inclusion of diverse populations pursuing health disparity research careers. A goal of the Texas Center for Health Disparities (TCHD) is to provide opportunities for underrepresented minority faculty to become successful health disparity researchers. The TCHD created the Steps Toward Academic Research (STAR) fellowship program to provide faculty and community partners a yearlong face-to-face and online hybrid curriculum focused on acquiring fundamental concepts in biomedical and behavioral health disparity research, basics in grantsmanship as well as professional development skills. In total, this training approach is envisioned to provide mutually beneficial co-learning experiences that will increase the number of under-represented minorities (URMs) entering translational research focused on the elimination of health disparities.