# Pipeline to Graduate Education and Careers in Behavioral and Social Science Research for URM Undergraduates: Addressing HIV in Sexual and Gender Minority Communities

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2022 · $250,707

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Sexual and gender minority (SGM) people and communities account for the vast majority of HIV cases in the
United States, with Black and Latinx people being disproportionately affected. Unfortunately these communities
also experience a host of negative societal factors. Therefore, the next generation of HIV behavioral and social
science researchers must have cutting edge knowledge of the complex factors that influence HIV prevention
and care within SGM communities, and possess the interdisciplinary research skills and experiences needed
to develop innovative and effective approaches to ending the HIV epidemic. This proposed NIMH Research
Education Mentoring Program for HIV/AIDS Researchers (R25) is named Student Opportunities for AIDS/HIV
Research (SOAR). It is a multi-component theory-based 2-year long research-intensive program for University
of Michigan undergraduate students who will participate in faculty mentored research experiences and other
evidence-based programs and activities during their junior and senior years. They will remain connected to
SOAR after graduation and into their graduate programs through our interactive SOAR website, and will
provide mentoring and role-modeling for current students. Recruitment of students will focus on individuals
from NIH-designated groups that are underrepresented in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social
sciences (URM: NOT-OD-20-031). Given the program's thematic focus on HIV-centered behavioral and social
science research priorities within SGM communities, we will also encourage participation from URM students
who identify as SGM (NOT-OD-19-139). SOAR is grounded in the expanded Social Cognitive Career Theory
(e-SCCT); patterned after the evidence-based U.S. Department of Education funded Ronald E. McNair Post-
baccalaureate Achievement Program; and incorporates elements of the evidence-based research mentoring
program Entering Mentoring and the evidence-based research mentee program Entering Research. The
program will be located in the University of Michigan Office of Research's Institute for Research on Women
and Gender, and be a collective effort across four prestigious and researcher-intensive UM Colleges and
Schools—School of Public Health; School of Nursing; School of Social Work; and College of Literature Science
& the Arts. SOAR was designed to advance the priorities in FY 2021–2025 NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and HIV-
Related Research, the NIMH Division of AIDS Research Priority Areas, and Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan
for America. We will provide the two-year SOAR program to four cohorts of 20 undergraduate students for a
total of 80 SOAR graduates. Specific Aims are as follows: (1) To fully develop and deliver a multi-component
theory-based HIV research education mentoring program for URM undergraduate students who will participate
in two consecutive years of faculty-mentored research experiences and other evidence-based programs and
activities during their jun...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10410558
- **Project number:** 5R25MH126703-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** GARY W HARPER
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $250,707
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10410558

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10410558, Pipeline to Graduate Education and Careers in Behavioral and Social Science Research for URM Undergraduates: Addressing HIV in Sexual and Gender Minority Communities (5R25MH126703-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10410558. Licensed CC0.

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