Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program
The Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative is a participating program of the Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program of National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Program description
The Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) Program develops and strengthens the research infrastructure necessary to conduct state-of-the-art biomedical research and foster the next generation of researchers from underrepresented populations. The RCMI program provides grants to institutions that award doctoral degrees in the health professions or health-related sciences and have a historical and current commitment to serving students from underrepresented populations.
The RCMI program supports National Institute on Minority Health and Health Dispartity’s vision to advance the science of minority health and health disparities research by enabling all investigators within the program the opportunity to engage in rigorous, mentored research experiences focused on diseases that disproportionately affect minority and other health disparity populations.
The RCMI program currently consists of three separate activities, with eligibility and program requirements varying for each:
- RCMI Specialized Centers
- RCMI Coordinating Center
- Clinical Research Education and Career Development (CRECD)
About RCMI Specialized Centers
Program description
The purpose of the RCMI Specialized Centers program is to expand the national capacity for research in the health sciences by providing cooperative agreement support to institutions that offer doctoral degrees in the health professions or in a health-related science and have a historical and current commitment to educating underrepresented students, and for institutions that deliver healthcare services, providing clinical services to medically underserved communities.
Goals
- Enhance institutional research capacity within the areas of basic biomedical, behavioral, and/or clinical research
- Enable all levels of investigators to become more successful in obtaining competitive extramural support, especially from NIH, particularly for research on diseases that disproportionately impact minority and other health disparity populations
- Foster environments conducive to career enhancement with a special emphasis on development of new and early career investigators
- Enhance the quality of all scientific inquiry and promote research on minority health and health disparities
- Establish sustainable relationships with community-based organizations that will partner with the RCMI institution