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Our Program

Our program is turning the TiDe by transforming research culture and developing clinician scientists from populations underrepresented in biomedical science.

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TiDe leverages partnerships across disciplines and organizations to provide education, mentoring and supervised experiences to train faculty* in the knowledge and skill they need to mentor diverse clinician scientists effectively. These faculty trainees will provide mentoring and "hands on" experiences in rehabilitation research for diverse student trainees from occupational and physical therapy graduate training programs (MOT, MSOT, OTD, DPT).**

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*Faculty trainees may or may not be from historically excluded or marginalized communities but must have an established track record of federal research funding and a demonstrated commitment to mentoring trainees from diverse backgrounds.

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**Student trainees identify with one or more of the following groups currently underrepresented in biomedical science, as defined by NIH (https://extramural-diversity.nih.gov/diversity-matters/get-the-facts):

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  • Persons from selected racial or ethnic groups (i.e., African American, Black, Hispanic, Latin American, Indigenous to the US including Alaska, Hawaii and Pacific Islands) (https://extramural-diversity.nih.gov/diversity-matters/underrepresented-groups)  

  • Persons with disabilities (those with a physical or mental impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities) (https://extramural-diversity.nih.gov/diversity-matters/individuals-with-disabilities)

  • Persons from disadvantaged backgrounds (defined by two or more: experience with homelessness, foster care or first-generation college completion; eligibility for a federal Pell grant or one or more federal assistance programs (free or reduced lunch, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC)); or grew up in one of the following areas: a) a U.S. rural area, as designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer, or b) a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-designated Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Areas (qualifying zip codes are included in the file).  (https://extramural-diversity.nih.gov/diversity-matters/disadvantaged-backgrounds)

 

[Note. Although NIH also includes women as an underrepresented group in biomedical science, women are well-represented among rehabilitation clinician scientists and therefore not specified here.]

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TiDe has three goals:

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Map of starting point to destination

DEVELOP PATHWAYS 
for underrepresented graduate students to learn the skills to become independent clinician scientists in rehabilitation research 

A purple triangle with circles at each corner surrounding images of a person outline

CREATE COMMUNITIES
that support current clinician scientists and graduate students to transform the culture of rehabilitation research and embrace inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility

Green and white street construction sign that is broken in half

REDUCE BARRIERS
for underrepresented clinician scientists as they pursue careers in rehabilitation research 

TiDe addresses these goals in the following ways:

       

       CONNECT:

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  • with diverse graduate students completing their pre-professional training to elicit interest in exposure to research training and identify student trainees

  • with faculty scientists who may or may not be from historically excluded or marginalized communities but who have an established track record of federal research funding and a strong commitment to mentoring trainees from diverse backgrounds to elicit faculty trainees

  • with academic programs, professional organizations, and scientific agencies invested in training, supporting, and engaging rehabilitation practitioners and scientists to create and nurture communities and reduce barriers for diverse clinician scientists

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       SELECT:

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  • diverse student trainees, and

  • pair with invested faculty trainees based on research interests to form dyads (student-faculty trainee pairs)

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      TRAIN:

 

  • student and faculty cohorts (all dyads within the program at a given time) with educational content focused on career development, research training, and scientific culture; dyad development plans will focus on developing pathways, creating communities and reducing barriers for diverse clinician scientists in rehabilitation research;

  • student and faculty dyads with dyad development plans tailored to address the career development and research training needs of the dyad; dyad development plans will focus on developing pathways for diverse clinician scientists in rehabilitation research;

  • student and faculty pods (more than one dyad) with educational content delivered through quarterly webinars and reflective discussions; webinars and discussions will address best practices and tailored strategies for creating communities and reducing barriers for diverse clinician scientists in rehabilitation research;

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      SUSTAIN:

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  • through reinvestment of program leadership, faculty and student alumni, and invested partners in subsequent TiDe cohorts; this may involve alumni in dyads, pods, and peer discussions;

  • through disseminating successful strategies and resources developed in TiDE with the larger rehabilitation research community; this may involve workshops and training in academic, professional, and scientific organizations, as well as developing models that can be scaled to other career development and scientist training programs

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