# SDSU FUERTE: Administrative Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $224,710

## Abstract

ADMINISTRATIVE CORE – Project Summary
Human health is negatively impacted by the lack of gender, racial, and ethnic diversity in biomedical and health
sciences research in the United States. This lack of diversity adversely impacts discovery, innovation, and the
advancement of scientific knowledge. Moreover, this point is particularly salient, as the COVID-19 pandemic
has differentially affected the mortality and morbidity of communities of color in the US. Lower numbers of
historically underrepresented minorities in biomedical and health sciences research fields are evident in both
the undergraduate and graduate levels of training as compared to the general US population, but are even
more amplified among the faculty ranks in American research universities and medical schools. San Diego
State University (SDSU) is proposing a new and innovative program, SDSU FUERTE (Faculty Unified
towards Excellence in Research and Transformational Engagement). This program aims to ameliorate this
disparity by recruiting a diverse cohort of health sciences researchers focused on Latinx health disparities and
implementing a comprehensive Faculty Development Plan, comprised of a multi-perspective mentoring team
approach as well as a new centralized Core Curriculum that applies evidence-based strategies to accelerate
the research and professional academic advancement success of its faculty. One of three cores supporting
SDSU FUERTE, the Administrative Core is first and foremost responsible for overseeing a new institutional
process for successfully recruiting this diverse, nine-person, interdisciplinary faculty cohort who will begin at
SDSU in the Fall of 2022. The Administrative Core will be critical to these efforts and will be led by a highly
experienced leadership team charged to promote buy-in and accountability for the SDSU FUERTE initiative
which is mandating a new level of inclusive excellence approaches and strategies at all levels of the SDSU
community. The management and coordination of the SDSU FUERTE program will occur through a well-
defined administrative structure which will receive essential input from an External Advisory Board and an
Internal Advisory Board comprised of nationally and institutionally recognized leaders. The Administrative Core
will also facilitate and support the essential synergies between the Faculty Development Core and the
Evaluation Core by serving as the central hub for coordination and information exchange.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10362384
- **Project number:** 1U54CA267789-01
- **Recipient organization:** SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Mark Brian Reed
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $224,710
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-09-21 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10362384

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10362384, SDSU FUERTE: Administrative Core (1U54CA267789-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10362384. Licensed CC0.

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