Training Sites

University of Pittsburgh
Graduate School of Public Health
Center for Minority Health
Research Center of Excellence on Minority Health Disparities

Contact Information
Director
Training Site Overview
Institutional Resources
Training Site Expectations

Contact Information

Research Center of Excellence in Minority Health Disparities
Center for Minority Health
Graduate School of Public Health
Office of the Dean, A600 Crabtree Hall
130 DeSoto Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15261

Ph: 412-624-5665
Fax: 412-383-6724
Director: Stephen B. Thomas, Ph.D.


Director: Stephen B. Thomas, Ph.D.

Stephen B. Thomas, Ph.D., is the Associate Dean for Diversity at the Graduate School of Public Health and the Inaugural Philip Hallen Professor of Community Health and Social Justice in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. One of the nation's leading scholars in the effort to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities, Dr. Thomas has applied his expertise to address premature illness and death among minority populations, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and HIV/AIDS. Former director of the Center for Minority Health (2000-2009), he is principal investigator of an NIH-NCMHD Research Center of an Excellence on Minority Health Disparities (RCEMHD) and has developed several scientifically sound, culturally relevant community-based interventions designed to close the health disparity gap through community engagement and research. Dr. Thomas received the 2005 David Satcher Award from the Directors of Health Promotion and Education for his leadership in reducing health disparities through the improvement of health promotion and health education programs at the state and local levels and the 2004 Alonzo Smyth Yerby Award from the Harvard School of Public Health for his work with people suffering the health effects of poverty. A leading scholar on the legacy of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932-1972), he was an invited guest to the White House to witness the Presidential Apology to Survivors of the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee on May 16, 1997.


Training Site Overview

The training program for Kellogg Scholars at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health is focused on the mastery of social and behavioral science theory and practice needed to develop the necessary trust essential for engaging minority communities in public health and medical research. The Pittsburgh site is characterized by "team mentoring" where scholars are supported by a multidisciplinary team of senior faculty all focused on providing assistance for development of an NIH Mentored Research Career Development Award (K01). Scholars enroll in the Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity (CEED) program, a structured, didactic career development program offered through the University of Pittsburgh'sClinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI).

The scholar's research statement is used to identify their initial team of mentors. Once onsite they have the opportunity to meet faculty from across the University's five schools of the health sciences and refine their research aims and adjust the mentoring team as appropriate. Each scholar is placed in an academic home within one of the seven departments within the Graduate School of Public Health: 1) Behavioral and Community Health Sciences; 2) Human Genetics; 3) Environmental and Occupational Health; 4) Epidemiology; 5) Health Policy and Management; 6) Biostatistics; and, 7) Infectious Disease and Microbiology. Team mentoring meetings occur twice per month and scholars meet with their primary mentor weekly during the first year and bi-weekly in year two of the program. Publications based on dissertation research is an early priority for year one.

Scholars at the University of Pittsburgh are trained in community-based interventions using core Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles. The community demonstration site is located in the Health Empowerment Zone; a geographically defined set of neighborhoods characterized by racial segregation and concentrated poverty. Faculty and staff from the Center for Minority Health operate the Healthy Black Family Project, a health promotion and disease prevention program that has enrolled over 7,000 participants. Scholars have the opportunity to collaborate with experienced investigators who have nested their research activities within this robust community program. Priority health disparity themes include, but are not limited to:
  1. Infant Mortality
  2. Cardiovascular Disease
  3. Diabetes
  4. HIV/AIDS
  5. Cancer Screening and Management
  6. Adult and Child Immunizations
  7. Mental Health
Core Graduate School of Public Health Faculty and Mentors
The Core Faculty include, but are not limited to (Alphabetical Order): The Research Center of Excellence on Minority Health Disparities includes faculty mentors from across the five schools of the Health Sciences including colleagues from the Pittsburgh RAND Corporation and Carnegie Mellon University. Scholars also participate in a three-day intensive course in Scientific Management and Leadership offered by the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences and the Clinical Translational and Science Institute (CTSI). Modeled on the Burroughs Wellcome Fund - Howard Hughes Medical Institute course in scientific management (www.hhmi.org/labmanagement), this course includes self-evaluation exercises and comprehensive evaluation by the scholar's team of mentors using state of the art assessment tools developed by the Center for Creative Leadership. Throughout the process, the Program Director serves both as a primary mentor (as appropriate) and is responsible for monitoring the overall academic progress of each scholar.

Kellogg Health Scholars at the University of Pittsburgh
2006-2008: Mindi Spencer, Ph.D.
2008-2010: Jamie Chatman, Ph.D.
2008-2010: Besangie Sellars, Ph.D.
2009-2011: Dara Mendez, Ph.D.


Other Resources

Each scholar at the University of Pittsburgh is provided with their individual office within their respective academic department and space within the Center for Minority Health. They also receive a computer, telephone, and provided access to the internet. The University ID issued to scholars provides them with access to all University facilities including libraries, fitness facilities and free public bus transportation in the city.

Opportunities for Interactions with peers
Becoming a Kellogg Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh means you will become a member of a broader community of talented postdoctoral research fellows, including the Office of Academic Career Development and our highly successful Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity (CEED) Program. The CEED program aims to:
  1. Jump start the careers of underrepresented minority researchers by providing them with mentoring as well as the skills and knowledge needed for successful research careers.

  2. Provide training in grant writing, making presentations, and other skills required to develop competitive career development awards.

  3. Ensure a supply of well-qualified science clinical and translational investigators in the healthcare research pipeline.

The CEED Program is designed to help address the shortage of underrepresented minorities in health sciences research careers by providing intensive early training focusing on grant writing, preparation of publications, mentoring, and development of leadership and management skills to place promising future health science investigators in a competitive position to successfully compete for early career development awards (such as K08, K12, K23, K25, VA, RWJ, and other career development awards). Kellogg Scholars at the University of Pittsburgh participate in CEED during both years of their training experience.


Training Site Expectations

How many projects are recommended?
Our scholars work on harvesting data from the Healthy Black Family Project and other existing databases. Scholars may also learn new skills and apply existing skills within the context of our community engagement research environment. Some scholars have also decided to complete coursework leading to the MPH degree. Scholars also are given the opportunity to lecture in courses offered through the Minority Health Disparity Certificate Program.

Policy on teaching and employment
In order to maximize the postdoctoral learning experience, scholars are not expected to teach a course. However, they are encouraged to lecture in courses offered through the Minority Health Disparity Certificate Program related to their areas of research. These lectures are limited to the Minority Health Overview course taught by Dr. Thomas and the Health Disparities Research: Methods and Interventions course taught by Drs. Fryer and Garza.

Expectations of publications/grant proposals
Under the leadership of our Publications Committee Chair, Dr. Sandra Quinn, we expect scholars to co-author no less than six peer-reviewed articles working in collaboration with faculty mentors over the course of the two year training program. Scholars are not expected to submit grant proposals during their training; however, the preparation of a refined NIH K01 application is an expected scholarly product by the end of year two.

For more information about the Research Center of Excellence on Minority Health Disparities and the Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh, please visit: www.cmh.pitt.edu