Transdisciplinary Cardiovascular and Cancer Health Disparities Training: Experiences of the Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities

摘要

The Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities program promotes multilevel and multifactorial health equity research and the building of research teams that are transdisciplinary. We summarized 5 areas of scientific training for empowering the next generation of health disparities investigators with research methods and skills that are needed to solve disparities and inequalities in cancer and cardiovascular disease. These areas include social epidemiology, multilevel modeling, health care systems or health care delivery, community-based participatory research, and implementation science. We reviewed the acquisition of the skill sets described in the training components; these skill sets will position trainees to become leaders capable of effecting significant change because they provide tools that can be used to address the complexities of issues that promote health disparities. The difficulty of reducing disparities has been largely attributed to the complex interaction among various determinants, including biological, genetic, behavioral, socioeconomic, and environmental factors. To a large extent, these factors have not been studied simultaneously to understand the complex interactions and pathways through which they influence health outcomes. 1 One way to achieve this more comprehensive understanding is through transdisciplinary and multilevel research. The Centers for Population Health and Health Disparities (CPHHD) program, developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), promotes multilevel and multifactorial health equity research and promotes the building of research teams that are transdisciplinary. 2 The current iteration of the CPHHD was launched by the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, with funds for scientific sharing of progress provided by the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research. In recognition of the multifactorial causes of health disparities, the CPHHD program was designed to conduct research involving social, behavioral, biological, and genetic research to improve knowledge of the causes of health disparities and devise effective methods of preventing, diagnosing and treating disease and promoting health.2(p1) All of the 10 funded centers focus their research on populations that are experiencing health disparities. Four of the centers concentrate on research in African American communities, 1 focuses on American Indian/Alaska Native communities, 3 focus on Hispanic communities, and 2 conduct research in rural communities. An article that describes the current round of the CPHHD program is included in this issue. 3 In addition to their efforts toward enhancing disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment via research, each center is required to offer a training program directed toward fostering the next generation of health disparities researchers, including predoctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and early stage investigators. In the first round of the CPHHD program, training cores were not included; however, in the second round, programs were required to include a training core. We outline these training efforts and describe the specific training goals shared across individual centers.