Dr. Rebecca McNally Keehn, Research Director atthe Indiana LEND, has been selected to participate in the Health Equity Research Scholars (HERS) Program, a 9-month faculty-development program for faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine.This program is co-sponsored by the Indiana Clinical andTranslational Sciences Institute, the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, and IU Health’s Office of Health Equity Research and Engagement.

The Program Goals are to:

• Provide introduction to disparities and social determinants of health.
• Articulate complex relationships between race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, psychosocial, cultural factors, and intersectionality, and how these relationships underlie health disparities.
• Draw upon various research methods to assess and analyze the determinants of health disparities for particular groups.
• Establish a cadre of institutional experts and promote collaborative research in health equity

Participant Competencies At the end of the program, participants should be able to:

• Identify knowledge gaps, synthesize relevant information, and formulate focused research questions to address health inequities and disparities.
• Critically evaluate biomedical, social,and behavioral science research design and methodology. 
• Design health equity research and potential interventions to advocate and promote health equity.
• Command knowledge of pertinent factors impacting health equity.