Investigator Development Core

The Investigator Development Core (IDC) for the Center to Improve Chronic disease Outcomes through Multi-level and Multi-generational approaches Unifying Novel Interventions and Training for health EquitY (The COMMUNITY Center) will be essential for meeting the Center?s mission. The goal of the IDC is to expand the scientific workforce to conduct innovative and effective chronic disease disparities research. The IDC will provide mentoring, training and support for early career investigators, the ?IDC scholars?, to conduct pilot projects that increases health equity in the prevention, treatment and management of chronic diseases. This mentored training and support will allow the IDC scholars to compete more effectively for external funding, enhance their effective participation in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams, contribute to the reduction in chronic disease health disparities through clinical and community-based research, and disseminate findings to the scientific community as well as to the communities we serve through the Community Core (CONNECTOME). The IDC scholars will be ideally situated to pay forward these skills and mentor and train the next generation of scholars. The IDC will leverage the resources including the outstanding training and educational programs at Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), Weill Cornell Medical Center (WCM) and Hunter College at the City University of New York (Hunter-CUNY) and partner with investigators throughout the New York-Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital System and the Physician Affiliate Group of New York (PAGNY). Resources available to the IDC include the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA), existing National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other Federally-funded cohorts, networks, and consortia, and additional resources that will facilitate IDC scholar training. The COMMUNITY Center Cores (Biostatistics, Implementation Science; Data Harmonization and Biomedical Informatics) housed in the Administrative Core, the CONNECTOME and the COMMUNITY Center Advisory Board (CCAB) will also support the IDC. The IDC supports the Center?s mission to increase health equity in the prevention, treatment and management of chronic diseases through the following Aims: Aim 1. To accelerate and diversify the next generation of investigators engaged in clinical and community-based participatory research (CBPR) and implementation science research. Aim 2. To implement a pilot project program to support and accelerate the work of interdisciplinary teams led by early-stage investigators (IDC scholars) from diverse background and institutions engaged in clinical and community-based participatory research. Aim 3. To accelerate dissemination of pilot research findings to impact practice and policy changing research in health equity locally and regionally. The IDC will support pilot projects that IDC scholars will lead as Principal Investigators. IDC scholars will complete a training program that guarantees exposure to a wide range of clinical and CBPR with a focus on reducing health inequities, and professional development activities in didactic and experiential settings.