# Investigator Development Core

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2022 · $965,802

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The mission of the Deep South Center to Reduce Disparities in Chronic Diseases is to promote health equity
and reduce the burden of cardiometabolic diseases across the “Deep South” region of the United States that
includes Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. A key component of fulfilling this mission is growing and
diversifying the workforce with the expertise necessary to conduct research related to dissemination and
implementation, comparative effectiveness, and translation of evidence-based interventions for real-world
settings. The primary objective of the Investigator Development Core is to prepare and mentor investigators to
develop innovative research that applies a precision public health approach—best viewed as “providing the
right intervention to the right population at the right time”—by paying careful attention to contextual factors at
multiple levels (individual, interpersonal, organizational community, societal). To this end, we have assembled
a trans-disciplinary team of investigators with expertise in translational research from across four academic
partners institutions (the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, the
University of Mississippi Medical Center and Tuskegee University) as well as community stakeholders
committed to addressing disparities in cardiometabolic diseases in the region. The Directors of the Investigator
Development Core, together with the Center’s co-Directors and other Core Faculty, have created a robust plan
for providing early-stage investigators unique training in translational research methods and access to core
resources dedicated to topics essential for this work. The Investigator Development Core will establish a
competitive pilot studies program that will fund a minimum of six high quality research projects annually, and
will provide grant trainees a mentoring team that will offer strategies and assistance to advance the pilot
studies to competitive grant applications. The Investigator Development Core will also provide access to sub-
units that will provide pilot awardees, as well as the three Center projects, expertise in translational design and
methodology, community participatory research, implementation and dissemination science, cost effectiveness
and assessment of social determinants of health. Ultimately, these activities will yield 30 to 40 early-career
investigators, allow for collaborative and focused cardiometabolic research across Academic/Research
Institutions within the Deep South, and ensure engagement of local/regional community settings. Key
outcomes for this core include publications and extramural grants resulting from the pilot awards, career
trajectories of awardees, and numbers and diversity of applicants.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10494286
- **Project number:** 5P50MD017338-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Orlando M Gutierrez
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $965,802
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-24 → 2026-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10494286

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10494286, Investigator Development Core (5P50MD017338-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10494286. Licensed CC0.

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