# Administrative Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · $4,811,967

## Abstract

ADMINISTRATIVE CORE: ABSTRACT
The Medical District UTSW-D FIRST Program will jumpstart the recruitment of a cohort of outstanding junior
faculty from underrepresented groups (URG). Five Scholars each will be recruited by the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) and by the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) to the Dallas Medical
District. The cohorts will specialize in three (3) interrelated cluster areas of biomedical engineering (BME),
brain science, and cancer. All FIRST Scholars will have laboratories in the Medical District, including the new
UTSW-UTD Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Building. Aim 1 will organize an efficient and effective
administrative structure to oversee all aspects of the FIRST program. The multi-PIs (MPIs) from UTSW and
UTD will direct joint implementation teams in each of the three FIRST cores (Administrative, Faculty
Development and Evaluation). We will have several levels of oversight including the Executive Committee that
includes all Core leaders and the External Advisory Board. We will continuously adapt a shared organizational
structure to foster collaboration and engagement among stakeholders. Aim 2 will develop and administer
proactive and unbiased approaches to identify and recruit URG candidates to our joint FIRST program as first-
time tenure track faculty. We will use a data-driven strategic approach that includes assembling a scouting
network of faculty for outreach and “upstream” recruitment of candidates still in postdoctoral training. We will
initiate multi-year relationships to encourage applications to FIRST. Aim 3 will design an integrated faculty
development program to launch our FIRST Scholars’ independent scientific careers and retain them at our
institutions. Aim 4 will develop and strengthen pathway programs for upstream recruitment of future URG
faculty in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM), and sustain impactful long-
term improvement in our institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion culture. Impact: Our proposal to enhance
diversity within the faculty populations at the Medical District as well as the broader UTSW and UTD
communities, together with robust pathway development programs, will expand the scientific workforce and its
diversity in the Dallas metro area in the immediate and long terms. FIRST will advance extramural research
and training to promote the scientific, medical, and moral imperatives for the future.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10853107
- **Project number:** 5U54CA280868-02
- **Recipient organization:** UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** HELEN L YIN
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $4,811,967
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-06-01 → 2025-04-08

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10853107

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10853107, Administrative Core (5U54CA280868-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10853107. Licensed CC0.

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