Abstract B124: Driving equity: Enhancing scientific workforce diversity through mentorship and grant writing workshops

Abstract A diverse scientific workforce fosters innovation, enhances global competitiveness, contributes to robust learning environments, improves the quality of research, advances the likelihood that historically underserved, or health disparity populations participate and benefit from health research, and enhances public trust. It isn’t merely their protected status that makes underrepresented minority scholars essential to a scientific workforce, but their culture, varying perspectives, creativity, and individual enterprise to address complex scientific problems. The Stephenson Cancer Center at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, in collaboration with the Oklahoma Center for Mentoring Excellence, has implemented a grant- writing-focused mentorship program, D.R.I.V.E. (Developing Research Initiatives through Versatile Oncology Exploration). This program is tailored to underrepresented scholars who are predoctoral, postdoctoral fellows, or early-stage investigators. Developed in response to the growing need for underrepresented minorities in cancer research, the program aims to provide participants with both theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the grant writing process. The primary objectives of the D.R.I.V.E. program is to 1) discover and promote talented underrepresented scholars and researchers in the fields of cancer and cancer health disparities research, 2) establish an early career investigator mentorship program with a strong emphasis on grant writing, and 3) utilize Training Navigators (TNs) to oversee and monitor the advancement and productivity of recently identified prospective pipeline scholars. The program serves ten mentees by providing a workshop series of interactive sessions, including discussions and lectures led by a professional with extensive experience in securing research funding, practical exercises, and collaborative activities. Each participant will have a grant application ready for submission by the end of the program. Participants also receive support through pairing with one of five faculty mentors (grant-funded oncology researchers) while utilizing Training Navigators to oversee and monitor the advancement and productivity of the pipeline scholars. A post-program survey was sent to all D.R.I.V.E participants (n = 10) as an effort to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. Initial results indicate significant improvements in participants' confidence and skills in the grant writing process. Of those who completed the post-program survey (n = 7), everyone (100%) indicated that the DRIVE program exceeded their expectations, and everyone (100%) found the DRIVE mentors to be highly helpful in providing guidance and support. While only 71% of participants deemed the Training Navigator to be beneficial, 85% recognized clear opportunities for future collaboration. In conclusion, the D.R.I.V.E. program offers a comprehensive and engaging approach to professional development in the field of cancer research. Future iterations of the program will explore expanded content to further enhance learning outcomes. Citation Format: J'Lecia G. Jones, Natasha Mickel. Driving equity: Enhancing scientific workforce diversity through mentorship and grant writing workshops [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 17th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2024 Sep 21-24; Los Angeles, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2024;33(9 Suppl):Abstract nr B124.