PaRtnEring to build understanding oF gEnomics Responsibly: the PREFER Community Health Worker Genomics Research Education Program - PROJECT SUMMARY Recent trends highlight the importance of championing a genomics research workforce that is inclusive and reflective of individuals who are commonly underrepresented in the genomics enterprise. Offering training to the entry-level workforce such as Community Health Workers (CHWs) can support workforce diversity and genomics research broadly by ensuring the entry-level workforce fully understands the genomics aspects of the research in which they are engaged. CHWs are a highly diverse workforce. The workforce has witnessed unprecedented growth, with $225 million in support from the Biden-Harris administration to train 14,000 CHWs in 2022 and an anticipated 15% increase in the number of CHWs in the US by 2029. Although CHWs are from the communities they serve, regularly interact with diverse populations, and have expressed interest in receiving training in genomics and related competencies, CHWs have yet to be provided with appropriate training in genomics. Thus, CHWs are an obvious but not well-equipped potential entry-level genomics research workforce. To address the unmet need of developing a trained network of CHWs with genomics competencies, we propose the PaRtnEring to build understanding oF gEnomics Responsibly (PREFER) CHW Genomics Research Education Program (PREFER CHW). Through this program we will work closely with five partner sites in the Southeast United States (The Center for Community Health Alignment, North Carolina CHW Association, South Carolina State University, Southern Mississippi University, and the Tennessee CHW Association). The CHW workforce is highly active in the Southeast, with over 10,000 CHWs engaged in the region and over 3,000 CHWs in the four states (South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Tennessee) that are participating in PREFER CHW. The Southeast United States is home to higher proportions of individuals that are underrepresented in the genomics research workforce (i.e., from racial minority groups, disadvantaged, rural, poor, and lower educational attainment backgrounds), making CHWs a critical entry-level genomics research workforce. Specifically, we will: 1) refine and finalize an educational curriculum (PREFER CHW) focused on 10 key genomic competencies, 2) implement the program among 150 CHWs using online asynchronous and synchronous methods, 3) equip partner sites to continue delivering PREFER CHW, and 4) assess the content and program goals of PREFER CHW. Our approach builds from the substantial strengths of the lead site faculty (Medical University of South Carolina) in genomics education and history of collaboration with partner sites. PREFER CHW offers a viable, sustainable solution of training CHWs in genomics competencies to help enhance the capacity of the entry-level genomics research workforce and leverages the existing network of CHWs to improve genomics research workforce diversity.
