A Report on the Keynote Address and Symposium on Research in Health Disparities in the USA

Abstract

Ensuring a diverse cancer research workforce remains challenging despite national recommendations and pathway programs dedicated to this mission. A panel composed of researchers, educators, and implementation scientists convened at the Binaytara Foundation’s 2023 Summit on Cancer Health Disparities to discuss funded pathway opportunities, share case examples, and outline best practices to achieve a diverse workforce and support research in cancer health equity. The panelists highlighted existing pathway opportunities through the National Cancer Institute’s Center to Reduce Health Disparities and illustrated specific funded examples, such as the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute’s PathMaker program, the University of Utah’s postbaccalaureate program, and NIH diversity supplement mechanisms. Programmatic examples were illustrated with success stories from the panel. The panelists concluded with the following insights for successful pathway implementation: 1) Since a diverse research workforce benefits society, investing in training and funding mechanisms is critical to promote individual and societal success in making progress towards cancer health equity; 2) A holistic, inclusive, and pathway-focused approach can successfully support, retain, and promote students, trainees, and faculty underrepresented in medicine and science; and 3) An inclusive workforce is best prepared to meet the needs of the diverse communities we serve.