The US National Institutes of Health has awarded about $31 million to boost diversity in the biomedical workforce. A dozen awards will be made as part of the three initiatives of the Enhancing the Diversity of the NIH-Funded Workforce program, the agency says.
According to NIH, those three initiatives focus on drawing students from diverse backgrounds into biomedical research careers, developing a nationwide network of mentors and mentees, as well as coordinating and evaluating those efforts.
“The biomedical research enterprise must engage all sectors of the population in order to solve the most complex biological problems and discover innovative new ways to improve human health,” says Francis Collins, the NIH director, in a statement. “While past efforts to diversify our workforce have had significant impact on individuals, we have not made substantial progress in expanding diversity on a larger scale."