# Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics

> **NIH NIH T32** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $415,116

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Columbia Nursing has been the leader in preparing nurse scientists to conduct interdisciplinary informatics
research for more than a decade through the Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics (RHeaDI) Pre-
and Postdoctoral Training Program (T32NR007969) and related funding sources. Moreover, RHeaDI leaders,
preceptors, and trainees have conducted interdisciplinary informatics research that has advanced nursing
science and health equity. RheaDI aims and training activities in this competitive renewal build upon the
substantial achievements of its 14 years of funding, are well-aligned with three of four scientific areas in the
2016 NINR Strategic Plan (Symptom Science, Wellness, and Self-Management), and address the following
cross cutting areas: Promoting Innovation - Technology to Improve Health and 21st Century Nurse Scientists -
Innovative Strategies for Research Careers. This competitive renewal adds data science-enabled precision
medicine approaches consistent with the National Institutes of Health's broad definition of precision medicine
as
an emerging approach that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle.
Importantly, RHeaDI training will continue to target underserved, disadvantaged, and diverse populations
across the care continuum and, consistent with evolving trends, its frame has shifted from reducing health
disparities to advancing health equity, i.e., the attainment of the highest level of health for all people. Given our
success in recruiting a diverse cadre of nurses for RHeaDI and the program outcomes, we are requesting 4
predoctoral and 3 postdoctoral positions. The specific aims of RHeaDI for the competitive renewal for Years
16-20 are to: 1) Maintain an administrative structure to support interdisciplinary research training for nurses
focused on the use of informatics and precision medicine approaches to advance health equity and facilitate
evidence-based practice in underserved populations; 2) Recruit and train a qualified diverse cadre of nurses
(predoctoral and postdoctoral) to conduct interdisciplinary research using informatics and precision medicine
approaches to advance health equity and facilitate evidence-based practice in underserved populations; 3)
Enhance the knowledge and skills of predoctoral and postdoctoral nurse trainees in the integration of theories
and methods from informatics and precision medicine to advance health equity and facilitate evidence-based
practice in underserved populations; and 4) Evaluate the training program structures, processes, and
outcomes on an ongoing and annual basis. We have adapted the National Institute of Nursing Research
Center Director's Logic Model for Sustainability to organize the RHeaDI Evaluation Plan which integrates
traditional methods with data science-based approaches including topic modeling and network analysis. The
need for nurse scientists trained to achieve the focus of the RHeaDI aims is greater than ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9962893
- **Project number:** 5T32NR007969-19
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** SUZANNE BAKKEN
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $415,116
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2002-08-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9962893

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9962893, Reducing Health Disparities Through Informatics (5T32NR007969-19). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9962893. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*
