# The Johns Hopkins Nursing Science Incubator for SDOH Solutions (N-SISS): Preparing Innovators to Eliminate Health Inequities and Redesign Health

> **NIH NIH R25** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $262,880

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
There is compelling evidence that the social determinants of health (SDOH) represent primary drivers of health
inequities, but dominant approaches to mitigating harmful SDOH have had inadequate success in reducing
persistent health inequities. The Nursing Science Incubator for SDOH Solutions (N-SISS) at the Johns Hopkins
School of Nursing will support nurse scientists and scientists in aligned fields in developing innovative and
rigorous programs of research focused on health equity, with a particular emphasis on SDOH. Because we
intend to deliver N-SISS educational materials to two important but distinct audiences—that is, three annual
cohorts of 10 core N-SISS Innovators as well as a national audience of nursing or aligned SDOH researchers
and students (ancillary N-SISS network trainees)—we organized the N-SISS program into two tailored sets of
activities and resources. At its core, the program will consist of a 10-month-long structured training curriculum
of individualized SDOH research training, applied research experiences, mentoring, and career support, which
will be offered to core N-SISS Innovators and which will culminate in the submission of an SDOH-focused
research (R, K, or F) grant proposal to NIH at the end of the program. Secondarily, the ancillary N-SISS
network trainee program will provide a variety of SDOH training resources for self-directed learning via a
dedicated web platform open to all researchers and students at no cost. The N-SISS program design is
innovative in several respects: the curriculum draws upon the project team's integrated conceptual framework
of SDOH mechanisms to provide the requisite theoretical and methodological skills for applied SDOH
mitigation; the program uses a three-pronged mentoring approach grounded in the literature of effective
scientific mentoring for independent research; and the didactic and collaborative learning opportunities are
additive, providing flexibility and enhancing the reach to national audiences. To increase reach and participant
representation, the program will strategically identify and support investigators determined by NIH and NINR to
be underrepresented in sponsored research. In addition, the program materials and events will be accessible
to ancillary N-SISS network trainees, who include members of the broader nursing and aligned scientific
workforce (we estimate at least n=3,600 ancillary network trainees will use the program over the project
period). N-SISS will leverage Johns Hopkins University's extensive research and training infrastructure and the
program directors' national network of health equity researchers to strengthen the scientific nursing workforce's
capacity to conduct impactful, innovative SDOH research to eliminate health inequities and redesign health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11010593
- **Project number:** 1R25NR021365-01
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jason Edward Farley
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $262,880
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11010593

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11010593, The Johns Hopkins Nursing Science Incubator for SDOH Solutions (N-SISS): Preparing Innovators to Eliminate Health Inequities and Redesign Health (1R25NR021365-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11010593. Licensed CC0.

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