UNM awarded $15.6 million NIH grant to hire biomedical faculty, boost inclusive excellence
September 20, 2022 - Kate Cunningham
A substantial grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will boost inclusive excellence efforts at The University of New Mexico and support the hiring of nine diverse faculty in biomedical research in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The $15.6 million, five-year award to the University is part of the NIH Common Fund’s Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) program. The award to UNM and four other universities was announced by the NIH.
“Through the FIRST program, these awardee institutions will build self-reinforcing communities of scientists committed to diversity and inclusive excellence through recruitment of early-career faculty who are competitive for Assistant Professor (or equivalent) positions and have a demonstrated commitment to promoting diversity and inclusive excellence,” according to an announcement from NIH.
“The institutions aim to foster sustainable institutional culture change and positively impact faculty development, retention, progression, and eventual promotion,” the announcement said.
At UNM, an all-female, interdisciplinary team of scientists from a variety of STEM fields will work closely with administrators from the College of Arts and Sciences on the hires and will focus on retaining and supporting current faculty.
The program, called UNM FIRST, specifically aims to promote sustained inclusive excellence through hiring of a diverse cohort of early-career faculty in the areas of neuroscience and data science.
To learn more visit UNM Newsroom.
