The 2025 ASCEND Scholar call for applications are now closed
Achieving Success in Community-Engaged research to elimiNate Disparities (UK ASCEND)
The UK ASCEND Program is recruiting a new cohort of early stage research-intensive faculty members to become ASCEND Scholars and participate in a Community-Engaged Research (CER) training and pilot research program. CER begins with understanding community needs and balances such needs throughout the research process from implementation to dissemination. Such approaches focus on community assets rather than deficits; involve community members in collaborations centering egalitarian relationships, communication, and trust; and promote co-learning and capacity-building for all participants. CER interventions are among the most significant, effective, and sustained approaches to remediate health disparities.
This NEW program is funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities/National Institutes of Health. ASCEND Scholars will participate in a two-year program, with Year 1 focused on completing CER Training and Year 2 focused on completing CER Pilot Projects. Pilot funding will support meritorious projects that aim to identify, reduce and/or eliminate health disparities.
Requirements
Applications for UK ASCEND must specify (a) the applicant’s training needs in CER and how those new skills will be implemented in (b) a pilot study that authentically interacts with community stakeholders to undertake research that appropriately and impactfully addresses health disparities. All pilot studies must obtain critical data to support an eventual extramural grant submission. Up to 4 ASCEND Scholar positions are expected to be funded in this round. Applicant selection requires commitment to both the one-year training period and the one-year pilot award.
YEAR 1 - UK ASCEND Community-Engaged Research Training Program
ASCEND Scholars will participate in the CER Training program, which will consist of the following common activities: multilevel mentoring, networking, professional enrichment, the national Faculty Success Program, CER training, experiential engagement, and a grant writing boot camp. This is a time-intensive program that is meant to better prepare faculty members for future research success.
ASCEND Scholars will receive up to $30,000 in professional development funds in Year 1, which can be used for individualized professional development activities, workshops, tuition or course fees for conducting the training plan, open access publication charges, and attending up to 2 conferences, including the NIMHD annual conference and one in their disciplinary area. While Scholars will have common research training activities they will participate in as part of the ASCEND Program, applicants must also provide details on their own individualized training plans for the use of Year 1 professional development funds. Common activities (listed above) do not need to be included in the budget. Final award amounts and 2nd year funding will be determined by the UK ASCEND Executive Leadership Team.
Scholars will also be able to work with a professional community engagement specialist staff person on the ASCEND Program team to help navigate building appropriate community-engaged pilot projects and community relationships over the course of Year 1 to support their Year 2 Pilot Projects. The ASCEND program will provide costs for this staff support and should not be included in Scholar budgets.
Year 2 - UK ASCEND Community-Engaged Pilot Program
During the second year of the ASCEND program and with evidence of achieving training goals, ASCEND Scholars will receive the UK ASCEND Pilot award. The CER pilot awards may focus on any group or population affected by any health disparity. Applications that align with UK’s health disparities research priority areas (i.e., Substance Use; Cancer; Diabetes & Obesity; Cardiovascular, Cerebrovascular/Neurological; and UNITE) are encouraged. However, investigators focusing on other research topics are also eligible to apply. The ASCEND CER Pilot will fund four pilot awards of $50,000 to selected scholars with a 12-month duration starting in Year 2.
UK ASCEND APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY:
- Applicants must hold a research-intensive (>30% of time allocated to research) faculty position at UK (e.g., assistant professor, research assistant professor).
- Applicants must be Early Stage Investigators as designated by the NIH (i.e., has completed their terminal research degree or end of post-graduate clinical training, whichever is later, within the past 10 years and who has not previously competed successfully as a program director/principal investigator for a substantial NIH independent research award such as an R01 or R01-equivalent. If you are unsure about your eligibility for this program, please consult with the ASCEND Training Lead, Kevin Pearson (Kevin.Pearson@uky.edu), to determine eligibility.
- Applicants must obtain a commitment from their Chair/Center Director of at least 10% effort to the ASCEND Scholars Program (in year 1) and that, in addition, the ASCEND Scholar will have at least 20% of effort dedicated to research to conduct the pilot study (in year 2).
- Applicants must be eligible to apply as the PI for federally funded grants (e.g., US Citizen or Permanent Resident)
Applicants from disadvantaged or underrepresented backgrounds, as defined by NIH NOT-OD-20-031, are especially encouraged to apply.
ELIGIBLE PILOT PROJECTS:
- Eligible projects must propose an authentic community-engaged research project
- If you are unsure if your application would be considered responsive, please consult with CER Pilot Project Lead Carolyn Lauckner, carolyn.lauckner@uky.edu, before submission.
- Please note that since year 1 is a training program and will help build skills and networks to engage in CER, applicants can propose pilot studies with communities they have not worked with in prior research.
- Priority will be given to those pilot project applications that, consistent with the NIMHD framework, focus on multiple domains (e.g., biological, behavioral, sociocultural, environmental, physical environment, health system) and multiple levels of influence (e.g., individual, interpersonal, family, peer group, community, societal) to understand and address health disparities.
Studies must include human subjects research – studies of more than minimal risk may need additional approvals prior to award.
No applications proposing animal studies, laboratory exclusive studies, exclusively large data sets, or other minimally human interactive approaches will be considered.