OVERALL – Project Summary San Diego State University (SDSU) is proposing a new program called SDSU FUERTE or Faculty Unified towards Excellence in Research and Transformational Engagement. The goal of SDSU FUERTE is to recruit a diverse, nine-person cohort of early career of health sciences faculty focused on Latinx health disparities who will join SDSU in the 2022-2023 academic year. The recruitment of this SDSU FUERTE Faculty Cohort will be organized around a prioritized cluster design where emerging scholars eligible for tenure-track positions with committed research interests in Latinx health disparities and developing expertise in community-engaged research and implementation science will be asked to expand SDSU’s scholarship in the following areas: Addiction Science, Environmental Health, and Obesity/Physical Activity/Nutrition. To promote a culture of inclusive excellence, the SDSU FUERTE leadership aims to support the success of the Faculty Cohort by removing barriers of isolation and discrimination often experienced by underrepresented minority (URM) faculty and promoting significant, sustainable change within the university that will support and align multiple institutional goals — excel the growth in faculty diversity; establish an evidence-based faculty development plan to accelerate the Faculty Cohort’s research independence; facilitate promotion and tenure and overall retention among URM faculty; expand SDSU’s research capabilities, capacities, and peer-reviewed funding portfolio; and ultimately improve the health and wellbeing of the surrounding Latinx communities through the efforts of SDSU FUERTE’s research. Guided by a new Faculty Development Model, SDSU FUERTE will implement a comprehensive Faculty Development Plan, composed of a new multi-perspective mentoring team approach along with mentoring training and a new centralized Core Curriculum that applies evidence-based strategies to accelerate the research and professional advancement success of its faculty. Three Cores — an Administrative Core, Faculty Development Core, and Evaluation Core — will be led by an interdisciplinary team of SDSU leadership who will work collaboratively to implement, evaluate, and refine multiple new strategies to transform the SDSU community into one that will be nationally recognized as an exemplar in research and inclusive excellence. Through the resources and national guidance provided by this U54 Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation Program and the significant institutional commitment by SDSU, SDSU FUERTE is poised to grow and sustain a long-term assurance to valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion, and ultimately positioning SDSU to build on its Hispanic-Serving Institution designation to become a leading Research 1 university.