Building the capacity of early-stage investigators to conduct community-engaged health disparities research

This paper describes an NIH funded Pilot Awards Program in Cleveland, Ohio, focused on developing the capacity of new and early-stage academic investigators to conduct community-engaged research. After a competitive application process, the program selected 18 early-stage investigators (post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty) who had partnered with at least one community organization to conduct pilot health disparities research projects, awarding up to $50,000 per project for one year. The program's development, project selection, and findings from survey and focus group data collected from the first two cohorts of awardees are discussed. Lessons learned and the implications of the importance of investing in a supportive infrastructure to enhance early-stage investigators’ involvement in community-engaged research to ultimately affect health disparities are also discussed.