23 - Leading Diverse Students to Discovery of Opportunities for Participation, Research, Mentoring, and Community Engagement for Underrepresented Populations in Biomedical Research

Background: Sam Houston State University is diverse campus in Huntsville, TX. For eighteen years a student organization has held annually, "The Diversity Leadership Conference" with the goal "to address diversity and leadership issues and their application in student development, higher education, and the global society." As a librarian on my campus I submitted application to provide a workshop for students to learn how they could engage as historically underrepresented populations in biomedical research, and in opportunities for diversifying the biomedical workforce. I hope that by sharing this opportunity with other librarians they might find ways to reconnect in their institutions as institutions emerge from pandemic restrictions.

Description: Participants learned from this session about health disparities and health inequities in historically underrepresented populations in biomedical research. National programs such as UNITE, The All of Us Research Program, CEAL (Community Engaged Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities), and NRMN (National Research Mentoring Network) were introduced so that participants may be inspired to explore opportunities personally and professionally to increase health equity and inclusion in biomedicine.

As a health sciences librarian I have learned about the All of Research Program through attending annual meetings of MLA. I support programs in health sciences and have gained a lot of knowledge about the National Institutes of Health and the programs emerging to increase diversity and inclusion in biomedicine.

Conclusion: My workshop was held on February 25, 2022 on campus at Sam Houston State University. Although attendance was limited this was a great opportunity to inspire a few students and to provide a welcoming environment to develop professionally as a librarian. I hope to refresh and inspire other librarians to connect with their communities outside of library walls.