Future HIV Mentoring Programs to Enhance Diversity

Mentoring Early-Career Investigators of HIV/STI Health Disparities Research: A Study Examining the CAPS Visiting Professors Program

BACKGROUND

To build research capacity for early-career faculty conducting HIV/STI research with minoritized communities and to enhance diversity in the scientific workforce, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Center for AIDS Prevention (CAPS) conducts a training program for visiting professors (VPs), begun in 1996. VPs are in residence at CAPS for three summers, complete a pilot research project, and prepare National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant proposals. Best practices and key elements for successfully training scholars of color, and others who work with minoritized communities, are identified.

METHODS

This paper draws on qualitative interviews with 31 VPs and 10 program mentors (VPMs) who participated in the program between 1996 and 2016. All VPs were also invited to participate in an anonymous survey to assess potential differences between study participants and non-participants. Interviews took place between September 2017 and March 2018 and were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically coded.

RESULTS

VPs and VPMs described key elements relevant to both human and social capital that contributed to Program success. Paramount among these were the importance of establishing trusting mentorship relationships; sustained collegial engagement over time; and fostering a training environment based on multidisciplinarity, skills-building, scholarly networking, and peer reviews.

CONCLUSIONS

Participant voices from this objectively successful training program provide directions for future initiatives to support scholars of color and those working with minoritized groups. An indispensable value of such programs is to intentionally foster trusted scholarly communities to counterbalance systemic inequities in the academy.

Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Pathway Initiative (CDEIPI): Developing Career Pathways for Early-Stage Scholars From Racial and Ethnic Groups Underrepresented in HIV Science and Medicine

BACKGROUND

There is an urgent need to increase diversity among scientific investigators in the HIV research field to be more reflective of communities highly affected by the HIV epidemic. Thus, it is critical to promote the inclusion and advancement of early-stage scholars from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in HIV science and medicine.

METHODS

To widen the HIV research career pathway for early-stage scholars from underrepresented minority groups, the National Institutes of Health supported the development of the Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR) Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Pathway Initiative (CDEIPI). This program was created through partnerships between CFARs and Historically Black Colleges and Universities and other Minority Serving Institutions throughout the United States.

RESULTS

Seventeen CFARs and more than 20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions have participated in this initiative to date. Programs were designed for the high school (8), undergraduate (13), post baccalaureate (2), graduate (12), and postdoctoral (4) levels. Various pedagogical approaches were used including didactic seminar series, intensive multiday workshops, summer residential programs, and mentored research internship opportunities. During the first 18 months of the initiative, 257 student scholars participated in CDEIPI programs including 150 high school, 73 undergraduate, 3 post baccalaureate, 27 graduate, and 4 postdoctoral students.

CONCLUSION

Numerous student scholars from a wide range of educational levels, geographic backgrounds, and racial and ethnic minority groups have engaged in CDEIPI programs. Timely and comprehensive program evaluation data will be critical to support a long-term commitment to this unique training initiative.

E-Mentoring to Address Youth Health: A Systematic Review

Electronic mentoring (e-mentoring), the integration of digital technology in mentoring relationships, has recently grown in popularity; however, the effectiveness of e-mentoring in addressing youth health has not been synthesized to date. The current study synthesizes the literature on e-mentoring to affect the health and well-being of youth (10-24 years) through a systematic review and evidence quality assessment. A total of 833 records were identified, of which 14 met eligibility criteria (published in English since 1995, targeted youth health and/or youth with health issues, and communication was entirely digital or combined with in-person interaction). The results showed that the majority of health-focused e-mentoring studies were conducted with young people with existing health conditions rather than on the use of e-mentoring to promote overall health and wellness. The included programs focused largely on bringing mentoring to youth subpopulations that may be challenged by in-person models. Quality assessments of the included studies showed that the strength of the evidence is mediocre. The findings suggest that e-mentoring has the potential to reach youth with unique health concerns and to promote independent management of health conditions as youth transition to adulthood; however, more rigorous evaluation of e-mentoring programs with larger sample sizes is needed.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40894-021-00172-3.

Vital Voices: HIV Prevention and Care Interventions Developed for Disproportionately Affected Communities by Historically Underrepresented, Early-Career Scientists

BACKGROUND

HIV prevention interventions which support engagement in care and increased awareness of biomedical options, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), are highly desired for disproportionately affected Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) populations in the United States (US). However, in almost 40 years of HIV research, few interventions have been developed directly by and for these priority populations in domestic counties most at risk. We submit that interventions developed by early-career scientists who identify with and work directly with affected subgroups, and which include social and structural determinants of health, are vital as culturally tailored HIV prevention and care tools.

METHODS

We reviewed and summarized interventions developed from 2007 to 2020 by historically underrepresented early-career HIV prevention scientists in a federally funded research mentoring program. We mapped these interventions to determine which were in jurisdictions deemed as high priority (based on HIV burden) by national prevention strategies.

RESULTS

We summarized 11 HIV interventions; 10 (91%) of the 11 interventions are in geographic areas where HIV disparities are most concentrated and where new HIV prevention and care activities are focused. Each intervention addresses critical social and structural determinants of health disparities, and successfully reaches priority populations.

CONCLUSION

Focused funding that supports historically underrepresented scientists and their HIV prevention and care intervention research can help facilitate reaching national goals to reduce HIV-related disparities and end the HIV epidemic. Maintaining these funding streams should remain a priority as one of the tools for national HIV prevention.

A mentor training workshop focused on fostering diversity engenders lasting impact on mentoring techniques: Results of a long-term evaluation

INTRODUCTION

Trainees and investigators from underrepresented minority (URM) backgrounds face unique challenges to establishing successful careers in clinical and translational research. Structured training for mentors is an important mechanism to increase the diversity of the research workforce. This article presents data from an evaluation of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Mentoring the Mentors program aimed at improving mentors' competency in working with diverse mentees in HIV research.

METHODS

Mentors from around the USA who had in one of seven separate 2-day training workshops conducted from 2013 to 2020 were invited to participate in an online evaluation survey of their experiences with the training and their subsequent mentoring activities.

RESULTS

There was a high response rate (80%) among the 226 mentors invited to complete the survey. The 180 respondents were diverse in demographics, professional disciplines, and geographic distribution. Quantitative and qualitative data indicate a lasting positive impact of the training, with sustained improvements documented on a validated measure of self-appraised mentoring competency. Respondents also endorsed high interest in future, follow-up training with continued focus on topics related to mentoring in the context of diversity.

CONCLUSION

The evaluation of the UCSF CFAR Mentoring the Mentors program showed lasting impact in improving mentoring practices, coupled with high interest in continued in-depth training in areas focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Building a More Diverse Workforce in HIV/AIDS Research: The Time has Come

Investigators from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds are grossly underrepresented in the nation's biomedical research enterprise. Projections of current demographic trends suggest that population growth rates of minority populations will outpace that of the Caucasian population by 2060. Thus, this workforce will remain a poor reflection of the U.S.

POPULATION

As a result of this underrepresentation of all sectors of the U.S. populace, the majority of the HIV research involving minority populations-those disproportionately impacted by HIV infection-will be conducted by investigators who do not resemble them. Although this does not necessarily preclude scientifically valid and important research, it produces research without the important cultural and contextual issues that can enhance the utility and generalizability of specific findings or interventions. The goal of this review is to not only raise awareness of the small numbers of minority investigators engaged in biomedical research, but also to identify the challenges to recruiting and retaining these investigators. In this article, while we discuss issues of diversity in general, the focus will be upon the mental health aspects of the HIV epidemic for illustrative purposes: to demonstrate the issues associated with enhancing investigator diversity as a strategy for remediating the chronic shortage of historically underrepresented investigators in scientific research. After presenting the magnitude of the problem and a rationale for enhancing diversity of the biomedical research workforce, we identify a number of potential reasons and challenges for the shortage of minority investigators. Aspects of the mentoring process, together with ten key suggestions, are discussed as the backdrop for the supplement papers that follow (dealing with mentoring principles, challenges, and mentoring-related issues on mentee, mentor, mentee-mentor relationship, and programs). By identifying these realities we hope to: (1) promote greater discussions of these challenges in academic institutions and settings; (2) suggest meaningful strategies to address these challenges; and (3) foster a national discussion about the long-term investment necessary for permanent change, as there are no easy 'fixes' for these challenges.