Montefiore Health System and Albert Einstein College of Medicine have been awarded a $1.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to provide advanced research training to post-graduate trainees from groups that are underrepresented in medicine and have research interests in heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders. Over five years, nine researchers will receive intense research training and robust mentorship from almost 30 established, senior investigators across Montefiore and Einstein.

Marina Reznik, M.D., M.S.

“This competitive grant enables us to recruit and train the next generation of diverse researchers who are dedicated to addressing health inequities in our community and across the country,” said Marina Reznik, M.D., M.S., principal investigator, vice chair for clinical and community-based research at the Children's Hospital at Montefiore and professor of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

The grant will support trainees as they investigate health inequities – preventable differences in health outcomes experienced by socially disadvantaged populations – in the Bronx where residents have high rates of diabetes, obesity, heart disease, asthma, HIV/AIDS, and infant mortality. The research projects conducted by the nine investigators will aim to understand and reduce these inequities.

Carmen R. Isasi, M.D., Ph.D.

The mentorship offered by scientists at Montefiore and Einstein will enhance trainee knowledge and skills in research, provide essential career development skills, such as presentation and grant-writing techniques, and build a solid foundation for their future research. The trainees will have the opportunity to earn a Master of Science degree through Einstein’s Clinical Research Training Program, a two-year intensive program that combines a mentored research experience with coursework designed for those pursuing a career in investigator-initiated, hypothesis-driven clinical research. The trainees will also participate in the Biomedical Science Leadership Program, a training program for postdoctoral fellows and senior graduate students that includes courses and workshops that foster skills in a range of areas, including communications, leadership and management, personal resiliency and emotional intelligence, cultural competency, course design, grantsmanship, and career management.

“By offering this advanced training opportunity to individuals from diverse backgrounds we aim to increase the number of researchers underrepresented in medicine who pursue academic careers in research and, at the same time, help them uncover meaningful solutions for people experiencing health inequities,” said Carmen R. Isasi, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator and professor of epidemiology & population health and of pediatrics at Einstein.

The T32 Training Program is titled “Purposeful Outreach for Diversity and Inclusion of Underrepresented in Medicine (PODIUM) Physician-Scientists” (1T32HL172255-01) and is intended to support training of postdoctoral trainees at Montefiore and Einstein, institutions uniquely positioned to engage minority and other health disparity populations in research, translation, and implementation of research advances that impact health outcomes, as well as provide health care for these populations.