NIH RCMIs

RCMI@Morgan receives funding support from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD 1U54MD013376-01A1).

The Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI) program develops and strengthens the infrastructure necessary to conduct state-of-the-art biomedical research and foster the next generation of researchers from underrepresented populations. The RCMI program provides grants to institutions that award doctoral degrees in the health professions or health-related sciences and have a historical and current commitment to serving students from underrepresented populations.

The RCMI program supports NIMHD’s vision to advance the science of minority health and health disparities research by enabling all investigators within the program the opportunity to engage in rigorous, mentored research experiences focused on diseases that disproportionately affect minority and other health disparity populations.

The purpose of the NIMHD RCMI Program is to expand the national capacity for research in the health sciences by providing cooperative agreement support to institutions that offer doctorate degrees in the health professions or in a health-related science and have a historical and current commitment to educating underrepresented students, and for institutions that deliver health care, and provide clinical services to medically underserved communities. The primary goals of the RCMI specialized centers are to:

• enhance institutional research capacity to conduct world-class basic biomedical, behavioral, and/or clinical research;
• enable all levels of investigators to become more successful in obtaining competitive extramural support, especially from NIH, particularly for research on diseases and conditions that disproportionately impact minority and health disparity populations;
• foster environments conducive to career development and enhancement for post-doctoral fellows, junior faculty, and other early stage investigators;
• enhance the tools for, conduct of, and dissemination of research generally and specifically for advancing minority health and preventing and eliminating health disparities; and
• establish sustainable relationships with community-based organizations that will partner with the RCMI Institution.