Learning Objective #1: 1. Identify two strategies to build interprofessional translational research capacity to reduce health disparities.

Learning Objective #2: 2. Describe two barrier to building a program of health disparities research in an institution of higher education with a primary teaching mission.

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Creating a research environment in a relatively young university with a primary teaching emphasis produces significant challenges. This presentation will describe a multi-year project to build capacity for health disparities research in a public university in the mid-western United States that serves a large percentage of minority and first-generation college students. Use of the R-24 and P-20 mechanisms for NIH funding will be discussed. Issues related to creating a culture for nursing of interprofessional and multidisciplinary translational research will be explored. The creation of mentored relationships for faculty members who are perceived as senior because of the length of time they have been faculty but who have limited research skill will be analyzed. Barriers related to workload, research infrastructure, and space will be discussed along with the solutions that have been created to bridge these barriers. Successful strategies to link research initiatives under a health disparities framework to create a program of research will be described. Finally, the sessions will include a discussion of strategies to engage minority and first-generation college students in research skills development in order to create interest in nursing research as a career pathway.