Project Summary/Abstract
This proposal is for a five-year Summer Institute on Integrative Health Equity and Applied Research (IHEAR).
The overarching goal of the IHEAR training program is to build the capacity and diversity of the integrative
medicine research workforce to advance health equity. Towards this goal, we propose an educational program
that provides diverse learners with didactic, methodological, and applied training in integrative medicine
research to reduce social disparities in health and healthcare. The IHEAR program will develop an initial
pathway for skilled, dedicated integrative medicine researchers by creating an early on-ramp. The curriculum
will include eight weeks of intensive training for eight predoctoral fellows recruited from a wide range of health
professions doctoral programs (e.g., acupuncture, medicine, naturopathy, nursing, osteopathy, pharmacy,
public health). The IHEAR program will include five components: (1) didactic training in social health and
healthcare disparities and the under-developed role of complementary and integrative health approaches; (2)
foundational research skills (e.g., formulating research questions, selecting research methods, interpreting
evidence); (3) ethical issues (e.g., barriers to diversity and inclusion in clinical research, issues of cultural
appropriation in integrative medicine); (4) professional career development; and (5) mentored, applied
research projects. IHEAR will be developed and implemented by experienced faculty at the Osher Center for
Integrative Medicine at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), leveraging the Osher Center's
established T32 training program and the broader research and training infrastructure of UCSF.