PROJECT SUMMARY- INVESTIGATOR DEVELOPMENT CORE The Investigator Development Core (IDC) of UK ASCEND proudly proposes the ASCEND Scholar Program (ASP) comprised of two transformative and linked opportunities to advance health equity by promoting community-engaged research (CER) success among ESIs from diverse backgrounds. The ASP strategy was influenced by two national evidence-based programs, UK institutional data, and a career development model implemented in three UK ESI cohorts. Sixteen ESIs over four cohorts will be selected to become ASCEND Scholars and engage in a three-component CER Training Program, followed by an opportunity to deploy their skills through the CER Pilot Program. The CER Training Program includes multilevel mentorship, scientific and social networking, and professional enrichment, followed by the CER Pilot Program. UK ASCEND’s CER Pilot Program will provide the preliminary studies necessary for highly competitive NIH grant applications. To ensure a pathway for continued inclusive research excellence, we also will offer CER Pilot Projects to eight postdoctoral fellows in the first and fifth years of the award. Throughout the ASP and in conjunction with the Community Engagement and Dissemination Core, ESIs will authentically interact with community stakeholders to successfully undertake research that appropriately and impactfully addresses health disparities. The IDC has the following aims: (1) Embed diverse health equity research-focused ESIs into the three-component CER training program and (2) Implement a rigorous CER pilot project program that leads to collaborative and sustainable interactions with community stakeholders and the successful dissemination of scholarly products, including publications, presentations, and grant submissions, leading to research success. The IDC benefits from strong leadership provided by Dr. Kevin Pearson, a senior-level NIH-funded translational researcher who currently serves as Assistant Dean for Inclusive Research in the UK College of Medicine, Career Development Leader for an NIH-funded environmental health center, and Director of the UK COBRE pilot program and Dr. Shyanika Rose, an early-mid career community-engaged health equity researcher who serves as a near-peer mentor, chairs the Research Committee for the Center for Health Equity Transformation (CHET), and leads CHET’s Health Equity Grant Programs. Our diverse, experienced, and complementary leadership team will work to promote excellence in community-engaged health equity research through mentorship, networking, and professional enrichment, followed by a CER pilot project that will serve as preliminary studies for publications, presentations, and subsequent NIH grant submissions. Our long-term objective is to increase the critical mass of early-stage investigators from diverse backgrounds exceptionally capable of undertaking transformative CER that achieves health equity.