Elijah Saunders & Levi Watkins Memorial Lecture: Training and Mentoring the Next Generation of Health Equity Researchers: Insights from the Field

Health inequities research is crucial for making progress in eliminating preventable differences in outcomes in non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, lung diseases, blood disorders, stroke, mental health, and diabetes. These inequities cause significant preventable morbidity and mortality in racial, ethnic, rural, and low-income populations across the United States. Evidence-based interventions and approaches that can eliminate disparities, as well as sustainable implementation and scale-up of proven-effective interventions, have the potential to close marked gaps in health outcomes in the United States. Thus, advancing health inequities research along with increasing the pool and expertise of researchers engaged in evidence-based scientific research efforts is critical. NHLBI/CTRIS will host a two-day workshop with thought-leaders and experts in the fields of implementation science, prevention science, health inequities research, and training and research workforce development. NHLBI/CTRIS will partner with several NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (i.e., NIH Office of Disease Prevention, NIMH, NICHD, NIDDK, NIMHD, NIA, NIDA), and the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health to execute this workshop. The workshop will discuss the Critical Challenges and Compelling Questions from the NHBLI Strategic Vision, as well as the HHS Action Plan to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.