摘要：We examine the challenges and barriers to quality mentoring for new investigators from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups and propose solutions for establishing a robust pipeline of early-career scientists who are well equipped to conduct research on disparities in HIV and mental health. In addition, we review contributions to this special supplement on mentoring and advocate a multilevel strategy that targets funding agencies, academic and research institutions, mentors, and mentees to enhance the diversity of the nation's scientific workforce and ensure that the public health system benefits from innovations derived from the optimal use of existing human capital. IN RECENT YEARS, SCHOOLS of public health and medicine, as well as schools in other areas of the health field, have focused renewed attention on the importance of research mentoring and the need to encourage new investigators to make use of this critical developmental tool. 1 – 6 A noteworthy change is a new emphasis on the professional training needs of groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in academic research, namely women and members of ethnic minority groups. 7 – 12 It is well established that quality mentoring sets the trajectory for future accomplishments 13 – 15 and is critical to the guidance, productivity, and success of all new investigators, 16 especially those from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. 4 , 17 , 18 High-quality mentoring cultivates the basic and advanced skills required for productive research careers, including teaching and lecturing, making presentations, selecting and managing promising studies, writing and reviewing grants and publications, and networking. 1 , 2 , 6 At each point, these skills build on investigators' previous achievements until reaching target levels of proficiency. There is an urgent need to close the existing gaps in mentoring between new investigators from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups and those from nonminority groups. A 2005 National Academy of Sciences survey showed that, relative to their peers from nonminority groups, racial/ethnic minority investigators involved in National Institutes of Health traineeships publish fewer papers, have greater difficulty obtaining academic employment, and experience greater social isolation in their laboratories. In addition, the survey results showed that they believed their ethnic minority status adversely influenced their training experiences. An estimated 50% reported having no formal academic mentor during their traineeship, contrasting sharply with the reports of trainees from nonminority groups. 19 These findings suggest the persistence of real challenges to the professional development of a critical segment of America's scientific workforce, one that has the potential to expand the scope of scientific inquiry, develop solutions to health disparities that can benefit all of society, and maximize the use of human capital. 19 , 20 Barriers to academic success, experienced by many groups, can be attributed to upstream (e.g., access to quality education, family resources) as well as downstream (e.g., employment prospects, availability of role models) sources. Such barriers underscore the importance of improving the quality of mentoring for trainees and early-career investigators from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. Doing so may contribute in 2 important ways to the eradication of health disparities in American society. First, a focus on high-quality mentoring may help foster a cadre of well-trained, committed new investigators from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups who are versed in community norms and values, can bring insights to bear on key issues affecting community health, and can make innovative contributions to the field that benefit all of society. These investigators may bring new perspectives and insights to factors that facilitate or impede health promotion in communities shouldering a disproportionate burden of disease. 20 Second, creating and maintaining a robust pipeline of investigators from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups may help target critically needed health and disparities research toward vulnerable communities and increase the recruitment and retention of participants from underrepresented groups in clinical trials and other research studies. We briefly review challenges and barriers to high-quality mentoring, specifically targeting new investigators from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups; some of these issues have been discussed in detail in this supplement. We define mentoring as a lengthy developmental process leading students and trainees to become productive agents of innovation capable of assuming key leadership roles in their respective fields. 17 In our discussion of underrepresented racial/ethnic groups, we refer in particular to African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians, who together accounted for 27.8% of the US population in 2006 21 but only 12% of doctorate recipients in that same year. 22 We explore solutions to the barriers we identify that may establish and maintain a robust pipeline of early-career scientists who are well equipped to conduct research on disparities in HIV and mental health.
