ABSTRACT
The NIH has a strong commitment to advancing diversity in the biomedical workforce but has recognized that
NIH-funded institutions may lack the organizational culture required to foster and develop diverse scientists. The
NIH Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation [FIRST] Program will provide a major
investment toward transforming institutional culture by integrating a cohort model of faculty hires committed
to diversity and inclusive excellence. The University of Texas at El Paso [UTEP] proposes the UTEP FIRST
program as a framework to address the shortage of diverse research scientists who focus on Hispanic Health
Disparities [HHD]. UTEP is a Minority/Hispanic-Serving Institution that is a focal point for education and
biomedical research for people living on the United States-Mexico border. The cornerstone is the
operationalization of strategic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion [DEI] initiatives that will provide an integrative
theme for addressing the FIRST Program goals of: (1) fostering sustainable institutional culture change; (2)
promoting institutional inclusive excellence by hiring a diverse cohort of new faculty; and (3) supporting faculty
development, mentoring, sponsorship, and promotion. The overarching goal of the UTEP FIRST proposal is to
drive significant change in the institutional culture at UTEP, thereby uplifting early-career faculty on their
trajectory toward academic and research success. The vision is to be a national leader in diversifying the
biomedical research workforce and a national resource for studying and implementing systemic change that
support academic cultures of inclusive excellence. We will test the hypothesis that a cohort model of faculty
hiring, sponsorship, continual mentoring, and professional development through evidence-based practices for
fostering academic cultures of inclusive excellence will achieve significant improvements in metrics of
institutional culture and scientific discovery. The FIRST cohort will involve a total of six faculty hires with research
interests in minority health disparities. Three Specific Aims are integrated across three cores. The aim of the
Administrative Core is to create transformative cultural and institutional changes through the framework of
Inclusive Excellence, leading to supportive and inclusive environments that develop diverse faculty who excel in
discipline-specific and interdisciplinary research focused on reducing HHD. The aim of the Faculty Development
Core is to develop, implement and sustain a UTEP FIRST program that builds communities of practice and
integrates innovative infrastructures, leading to transformative and sustainable changes in policies, procedures,
and processes that foster the retention, progression, and promotion of diverse faculty. The aim of the Evaluation
Core is to foster and institutionalize program improvement and sustainability by testing the primary hypothesis
through documentation of faculty, department, and institutional level metrics and indicators. Expected findings
will exert a powerful influence by fostering a sustainable institutional culture change, thereby providing UTEP
with the foundation needed for thriving at the intersectionality of research, culture, diversity, and inclusion.
