About the Network:
The DIVERSE Network, a collaboration between Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA and Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, is seeking exceptional candidates to be part of the second Fellowship class in the American Heart Association Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN) on the Science of Diversity in Clinical Trials.
The fellowship is part of a ground-breaking $20 million research project to study the barriers to ensuring people of diverse race and ethnicity are represented and included in clinical research trials, identify best practices to overcome those barriers and determine how solutions can be implemented across the research community that national teams of research scientists from 10 universities and health care systems will lead. The Strategically-Focused Research Network on the Science of Diversity in Clinical Trials of the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization dedicated to a world of longer, healthier lives, is funded in part by Pfizer and Gates Ventures.
Location:
The 2023-24 successful candidate will be primarily located either at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta,GA or the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California.
Minimum Requirements:
We are looking for a diverse entering class of individuals holding the M.D. or Ph.D degree with backgrounds in medicine, public health, education, health informatics, or social sciences.
About the Fellowship, Research Projects, and Training:
Fellows will work with world-renown researchers and educators from the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta and the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California and will be part of two large research studies to identify the best strategies for including people of diverse populations in clinical trials, focusing on African-American, Hispanic/LatinX, Asian/Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian, women, LGBTQ+, 75 years or older, and participants with disabilities and dementia.
The first study is comparing six different strategies in 112 different clinical trials randomizing at the site level across the country to determine which works best for different people. The second study works with doctors in communities to find what they and their patients need most to participate in clinical research trials.
Researchers will train community doctors to identify and remove barriers to health care access and to enroll people in research trials which can help their patients have access to the latest therapies. The instructions and resources developed for community doctors and hospitals will be made widely available to health care professionals outside the study area. Additionally, the team will form a network of leading pharmaceutical companies, technology companies and minority health care institutions to work together to make clinical trials more inclusive.
The fellowship will be led by Hannah Valantine, MD, Fatima Rodriguez, MD MPH, Pricilla Pemu, MBBS, MSCR, and Eldrin Lewis, MD MPH, who serves as the grant Center Director.  The project leadership includes Melvin Echols, MD, Latha Palaniappan, MD MS, Paul Wang, MD, Anekwe Onwuanyi, MD, Muhammed Idris, PhD, Marcia L. Stefanick PhD, Muhammed Idris, PhD, Marcia Stefanick, PhD, Peter Poullos, MD, and VJ Periyakoil, MD.
The goal of the one or two-year fellowship is to train and develop the cardiovascular clinical research leaders of tomorrow. The training program will include an individualized development plan including mentorship, didactics, mentored research, and hands-on experiences in clinical trial design, operations, and execution. For candidates interested in academic careers, dedicated additional training is incorporated including clinical research conduct and leadership, grant writing, and core analytic/biostatistical skills, with mentorship from leaders in their fields at Morehouse and Stanford.

For investigators with interest/expertise in informatics/artificial intelligence there will be dedicated mentorship experiences in that area. Prior experience or interest in learning health informatics skills in clinical database queries (e.g., SQL), data standards (e.g., ICD, LOINC, OMOP), machine learning prediction model development and evaluation (e.g., ROC, precision-recall, cross-validation, and scientific programming in Python or R) will benefit specific project threads.
The program will integrate elements from Morehouse’s and Stanford's broad and deep portfolio of academic offerings and provide the ability to audit academic courses and access resources at both institutions. A high level of academic output is expected to be a full-time fellowship. Fellows are positioned to be future leaders through comprehensive training and national and international collaborations.

The expected start date is July 1, 2023 but is flexible.