Research People and Projects

Official Title:

The Resilience Collective

The present political landscape presents wide-ranging and fast-evolving challenges for health disparities research, including substance use research among racial/ethnic and/or sexual and gender minoritized populations. National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants are the primary source of funding for substance use research and receipt of NIH grants is built into the evaluation process for faculty at all institutions represented in the team. Recent challenges faced by researchers addressing substance use in health disparity populations include: direct threats to current funding, limitations in the populations served by proposed research, and uncertainty about funding for new proposals within the fundable range or renewal of ongoing multi-year projects. These new challenges are compounded by inherent difficulties in conducting substance use research among populations disproportionately impacted by social determinants of health. These populations often face barriers such as stigma surrounding problematic substance use and treatment seeking, as well as obstacles related to physical access to care and research engagement. The need for problem-solving, creative thinking, and support in advancing health disparities research has never been greater. The goal of this project is to move substance use research with health disparity populations forward in the current sociopolitical environment by pursuing the following objectives: (1) Creating a collaborative space for sharing resources and developing innovative solutions, such as repurposing protocols, identifying non-federal sources of funding, and identifying strategies for continuing to support staff paid from federal grants; (2) Establishing dedicated time for collaboration, allowing team members and their trainees to share works in progress or new grant ideas. These efforts will expand collaborations, enhance research through diverse perspectives, and increase productivity; and (3) Hosting a half-day conference at Rutgers focused on substance use research in health disparity populations, further promoting efforts highlighted above. The team will hold one-hour meetings monthly at a minimum, alternating virtual and hybrid formats. Team members will rotate responsibility for drafting meeting agendas and planning activities centered on resource sharing and interactive research presentations, which may be expanded to advocacy efforts, such as developing op-ed pieces. Flexibility will be built into the project to be responsive to the changing environment and needs of team members, but it will remain focused on outcomes aligned with the three stated objectives.