The CSULB RIMI Project is a 5-year, multi-million dollar project sponsored by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health to build research infrastructure at CSULB through the mentoring of faculty and students in health disparities research.
The RIMI Project is a collaborative effort between three CSULB research centers;
- Center for Health Equity Research
- Center for Behavioral Research and Services
- NCLR Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation, and Leadership Training
The goals of the RIMI Project are to:
- Address gaps and challenges to conducting minority health and health disparities research
- Train and support faculty and students interested in minority health and health disparities research
- Increase awareness of minority health and health disparities research on campus
- Provide resources to faculty and student researchers at CSULB
- Foster multi-disciplinary research and collaboration among CSULB faculty
- Promote community and public health approaches to reducing health disparities
The RIMI Project is organized into four Cores:
- Administrative and Capacity Building: Responsible for management, oversight and strategic planning for all RIMI Project components.
- Research Faculty Development: Leads efforts to increase faculty capacity to conduct minority health and health disparities research through the provision of research support, mentoring, and training.
- Academic Enrichment for Students: Prepares graduate students to become skilled researchers through a year-long Health Disparities Research Health Scholar training program, as well as an introductory course in health disparities research, Health Equity and Health Disparities Research in the U.S.
- Shared Resources: Provides technical support and expertise to faculty and graduate student researchers in the areas of proposal preparation, data management, and resource information related to health disparities research.
Accomplishments:
- RIMI was the impetus for the establishment of the Center for Health Equity Research in April 2013.
- CSULB RIMI has supported 21 Faculty Fellows from 14 departments to conduct independent research.
- Two Faculty Fellows received grants based on their research conducted with support from the RIMI Project. Dr. T. Alex Washington from the School of Social Work was awarded an R21 grant by the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Bita Ghafoori, Advanced Studies in Education and Counseling Department, established the Long Beach Trauma Recovery Center at St. Mary’s Medical Center through a grant by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claim Board.
- Twenty graduate students from 11 departments have participated as Research Health Scholars in the RIMI Project. Five have continued on to doctoral programs with three former Research Scholars applying for the next academic year.
- RIMI–affiliated faculty and staff have published a total of 24 peer-reviewed papers from their research in the last 5 years.
- The RIMI Project sponsored fifteen nationally recognized researchers and public health advocates to present their work on minority health and health disparities, and provide research capacity-building workshops to CSULB faculty, students, and staff.
Quotes:
“I just wanted to extend my appreciation once again for the assistance that RIMI has provided in the pursuit of this goal (tenure and promotion). The support provided by RIMI helped me to advance to publication the journal articles that were essential to my earning positive reviews for my scholarly activity.”
– Faculty Fellow
“The RIMI study I completed and the subsequent study at CBRS were very important in preparing me to be competitive for this grant.”
– Faculty Fellow
“I developed an enhanced interest in health-related research and project evaluation, and I am now interested in a PhD.”
– Health Scholar
“I believe that being a part of this program made me a successful candidate for a PhD program. I wish more students had the opportunities that I had as a RIMI scholar.”
– Health Scholar