We’re renewed! Now, what can SHERC do for you?
If you’ve been following the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative, you may know the center offers mentorship opportunities, health equity project funding, community networking opportunities and countless workshops on everything from manuscript writing to learning power analysis.
How can you join SHERC’s work or advance your career path to include health equity?
Following are a few ways you can get involved with SHERC.
For SHERC faculty and research associates
Apply for a Pilot Project through the Investigator Development Core
The SHERC Investigator Development Core (IDC) has a new focus for their Pilot Project Program (PPP)—funding researchers dedicated to translational research and team science—and they are continuing their focus on early-stage investigators and underrepresented faculty in biomedical, clinical, and behavioral sciences.
The IDC will support the career development of PPP research leads and other early-stage investigators and underrepresented faculty through an Individualized Mentoring Program. PPP applicants will receive individualized support throughout the proposal process and in selecting a mentorship team. Find out more on the Pilot Project Program page.
Join an IDC workshop
Manuscript Writing Workshop
Postdoctoral scholars, early-stage investigators, or faculty in biomedical, clinical or behavioral sciences with little publishing experience can join the two-day, interactive manuscript writing workshop. The course, which features one-on-one mentoring, is typically held each May. Contact Christine Smith, ICD project manager, for updates.
Grant Writing Workshop
Lucy Deckard, president of Academic Research Funding Strategies, LLC., will conduct a two-day proposal development workshop covering: the basics of NIH/finding funding opportunities, positioning/faculty readiness, project planning, developing specific aims, program officer communication, grantsmanship, interpreting reviews, revising and resubmitting. She also will meet individually with 10-12 faculty or with small groups working on SHERC pilot proposals and will review drafts of specific aims and prior reviews in advance of these working sessions. Dates to be determined. Contact Christine Smith, IDC project manager, for updates.
Seek an external grant review
SHERC will offer payments for external (non-NAU) faculty to review NIH proposals before submission, for SHERC investigators and NAU faculty campus-wide who are writing health equity-related proposals. Reviewers with specific expertise will be identified by the project principal investigator, and requests for payments will be approved and administered by the Admin Core. More information to be announced.
Apply for the Core Leadership Development Program
Two tenured, underrepresented faculty per year will be selected for the Core Leadership Development Program. They will participate in a two-year research administration leadership program within SHERC designed to best match fellows’ interests and skills with Admin Core responsibilities. More information to be announced soon.
Ask the Technical Assistance Group
Are you an NAU faculty member, graduate student, or postdoctoral scholar who is working on a publication or needs assistance with any phase of your research project?
The Technical Assistance Group (TAG) is a service center within the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER) that can help. If your work is connected to health equity, SHERC may be able to assist you with funding your TAG consultation.
Visit TAG for more information or to submit a request.
Access Research Infrastructure Core’s list of publicly available databases
The Research Capacity Core (RCC) team has compiled a list of publicly available health-related electronic databases that NAU faculty can query to conduct their own secondary data analysis.
These databases are searchable, and the data can be used to gather both general information and to access data that can be compiled to test novel hypotheses in social, behavioral and biological sciences. Find lists for “RCC publicly available data table,” “Qualitative and quantitative software training,” and “Medicare data access” on the RCC website.
Register for an RCC workshop
Content experts provide training for NAU faculty and staff, in a workshop format for a wide variety of methods and disciplines including research design and methodological/analytical tools that support health equity-related research. Workshops occur throughout the academic year and summer. To register, visit the RCC workshop registration page.
Watch a pre-recorded workshop
Every RCC workshop from 2018 to 2022 was recorded and is available for free. To watch an RCC pre-recorded workshop, visit the RCC pre-recorded workshop. Offer community-wide talks or presentations on your scholarship through the Community Engagement Core’s Fairness First Initiative.
Teach other researchers, students and community members about how your NAU research connects to health equity by giving a talk, guest speaking in a podcast, or writing a blog. Visit the Fairness First Campaign for more information.
Participate in SHERC hosted events
Every year, SHERC offers a variety of events for faculty and staff. You can see what’s available on our events page.
Attend the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) workshops series
Hilary North-Ellasante—a circle keeper for shared learning and dialogue around explicit and implicit biases, oppressive power dynamics, colonialism, structural racism, and other harms that continue to impact marginalized or underrepresented communities—will offer a workshop series on DEIJ. Dates to be determined. More information to be announced.
Gain support and guidance for emerging partnerships and dissemination
The CEC coordinates the Health Equity Research Support (HERS) Program. HERS has two tracks: Partnership Development and Community Dissemination. Both tracks provide $5,000 of support and mentored training through a cohort format, which includes three face-to-face workshops over a one-year period. The Partnership Development track workshops introduce strategies and best practices to build an equitable alliance between community practitioners and university investigators. Funds can be used to meet face-to-face to discuss potential collaborative work or to attend a conference addressing common interests to inspire potential projects.
The Community Dissemination track workshops provide training to university scholars on innovative and effective ways to share results with community members and stakeholders with a focus on policy and systems change.
Applications to participate in each of the programs will be available in November, 2022, and kick off in February, 2023. For more information, visit the HERS page.
For community members and organizations, students (and everyone)
Attend a Fairness First community event
The Fairness First Campaign was established to support inclusive and meaningful conversations in our communities about health equity, fairness and justice. Every community’s path to achieving health equity and fairness is unique, but the Fairness First Campaign focuses on systemic, structural and historical factors of health that impact everyone.
Through the Fairness First campaign, learn more about the diverse types of community and academic work being done in the Southwest to build healthier and more equitable communities for everyone.
All are welcome to Fairness First online or in-person events. Learn more on the Fairness First Campaign page. Review their past events on the Fairness First Campaign YouTube channel.
Listen to a Fairness First health equity podcast
The Fairness First podcast is a space for local community leaders and other stakeholders to introduce concepts about health equity, build awareness regarding local programs working for the well-being of communities in the Southwest and engage in dialogue that highlights health equity as a multisectoral issue. Visit the Fairness First podcast website for more information or to listen to a podcast. Also available on iTunes, Spotify, and Podbean.
Read a Fairness First blog
Learn more about SHERC early-stage investigators who talk about their research and how it connects to health equity. Visit the Fairness First blog page.
Take a workshop with us
Keep up with all SHERC events by viewing the SHERC events, signing up for the SHERC newsletter, reading past CHER/SHERC newsletters, or following us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn). We look forward to connecting with you soon!
This research is supported by a NIMHD center grant to the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative at Northern Arizona University (U54MD012388).