Race and the Social Determinants of Equity, Health and Well-Being Cluster Hire & Retention Initiativ

The Race and Social Determinants of Equity, Health, and Well-Being Cluster Hire and Retention Initiative seeks to significantly increase both the hiring, promotion, and retention of faculty who work in the fields of race and the social determinants of equity, health and well-being, and Pitt’s capacity to contribute to important and sustainable societal change.

Since 2020 the University of Pittsburgh has recruited and promoted almost 90 new faculty members to conduct research, educate students, and engage in service designed to reduce racial disparities and improve measures of equity, health, and well-being in the Pittsburgh region, nationally and across the globe.

These faculty members continue to deliver excellence. They include authors of books and numerous scientific publications, educators, directors, clinicians, presenters at national conferences, and national award winners. In the Schools of the Health Sciences, their interdisciplinary areas of research include trauma management, global health, morbidity and mortality, invasive surgery, oral health and comorbidity, LGBTQ+ psychiatry, health disparities in Latinx cultures, and speech-language pathology—just to name a few. Through their efforts they have demonstrated their commitment to community outreach and engagement, substance use disorder treatment, patient-centered care, healthcare quality improvement, and the improvement of health policy.

Pitt’s new faculty in Race and Social Determinants of Equity, Health and Well-Being are proving: It’s Possible at Pitt.

Interested in applying?

Eligible faculty members receive loan repayment benefits and career development support; eligible departments receive salary subsidies. Applicants in the health sciences may apply in the Cluster Hiring Portal (CHiP).

For questions related to applications, loan repayment, and or administration, please contact us:

For applicants or participants in the health sciences:

Lisa Upsher
Director, Office of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
412-648-2066
liu7@pitt.edu

For applicants or participants in all other schools:

Lorie Johnson-Osho
Director, Office of Faculty Diversity and Development
Office of the Provost
412-383-5673
lajosho@pitt.edu

Research Poster Competition

The University of Pittsburgh’s Health Sciences schools sponsor the annual Health Disparities and Social Justice Poster Competition. Instituted in 2010, this event, coordinated by the Office of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, gives young researchers an opportunity to expand their scientific professional skill set by presenting their health disparities-based scholarship and community engagement work. Students and trainees from the six schools of the health sciences, the Schools of Social Work and Education, and the Department of Psychology submit abstracts for review. Posters are judged for originality, significance to the authors’ field, research methods, visual impact and presentation skills. Cash prizes are awarded to winners in each category. Applications are not yet being accepted for the 2025 competition.

2024 Winners

Undergraduate programs
Dominique Kline
Department of Biological Sciences
Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences
Exploring PrEP Uptake among SGM Adolescents: Unveiling Barriers and Community Perspectives for Informal HIV Prevention Strategies

Master’s programs
Claire Lama
School of Public Health
Behavioral & Community Health Sciences
Factors in Seeking Skilled Care During the Perinatal Period: An Exploratory Study from Golche, Nepal

Doctoral programs
Na Bo
School of Public Health
PhD Program in Biostatistics, Department of Biostatistics
Pseudo-outcome-based Meta-learners to Analyze Treatment Heterogeneity in Survival Data: Application to Pediatric Asthma Care under COVID-19 Disruption

Post-doctoral programs
Hector Salazar
School of Nursing
PhD Program
Creating Inclusive Research Through a Culturally Aware Data Collection Site

First professional
Tien Nguyen
School of Medicine
Important Characteristics for Integration of Intimate Partner Violence Support into Perinatal Substance Use Recovery Centers: A Qualitative Study

Thanks to Mike Dolinger and Jill Ruempler (School of Public Health), Bee Schindler and Mary Ann Merranko (Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), and Tammy Dennis (Office of Academic Career Development) for their expertise in implementation.

Other SDOH Research at Pitt

The Office of Health Sciences Diversity, Equity and Inclusion celebrates Pitt’s commitment to being a national leader in efforts to understand and address the social determinants of health, equity and well-being.

Learn more about Pitt researchers’ investigations into health equity and the social determinants of health, equity and well-being:

• The Center for Analytical Approaches to Social Innovation finds innovative solutions to solve community challenges through designing and implementing solutions in the data science realm
• The Center for Health Equity (School of Public Health) seeks to understand and ultimately eliminate health inequities in under resourced, vulnerable, and underserved communities and populations, particularly those in Western Pennsylvania.
• The Center for Health Equity and Research Promotion (with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) is dedicated to equitable healthcare for veterans.
• The Center for Healthy Environments and Communities works to improve environmental health in Western Pennsylvania through community-based research.
• The Center for LGBT Health Research (School of Public Health) seeks to understand and improve the health of sexual and gender minority communities by maintaining an infrastructure to support research, training and practice.
• The Center for Oral Health Research in Appalachia (School of Dental Medicine) works to identify factors that lead to oral health disparities in children and families in Appalachia.
• The Center for Race and Social Problems (School of Social Work) conducts applied social science research on race, color, ethnicity and their influence on the quality of life for all Americans.
• The Center for Research on Health Care (School of Medicine) brings together investigators from throughout the health sciences to conduct innovative, high-impact research in the areas of health services and implementation, including health disparities.
• The Center for Research on Innovations in Services and Equity in Mental Health engages in proactive research regarding access and outcomes for mental health services globally.
• The Center for Rural Health Practice serves as the rural health focal point for the entire university system, engages researchers in rural health research and practice, and develops policy recommendations for the consideration of federal, state, and local stakeholders.
• The Center for Social and Urban Research conducts interdisciplinary research that improves communities and addresses social, economic, health, and policy issues most relevant to society.
• The Center for Urban Education (School of Education) pursues liberatory education praxis through scholarly, creative, and intellectual endeavors.
• The Child Welfare Education and Research Programs (School of Social Work) provide a continuum of professional development programs designed to prepare, strengthen and enhance the child welfare workforce.
• The Community Leadership and Innovation in Practice Center (School of Pharmacy) is an engaged team of faculty, residents, fellows, students, and partners dedicated to advancing the way pharmacy is practiced in our communities, regionally, nationally, and across the globe.
• CONVERGE is a multidisciplinary community of scholars who produce and translate research focused on sexual and reproductive health, with particular attention to marginalized populations.
• The Ford Institute for Human Security conducts and supports research that helps identify and address widespread and cross-cutting challenges to survival, livelihood and dignity, including human rights violations, gender inequalities, climate change and forced migration.
• The Gender Inequality Research Lab is an interdisciplinary research forum for scholars and practitioners to collaborate on policy-relevant research on gender inequality.
• The Health Equity Access Lab (School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences) aims to investigate health equity and access to the health sciences education and clinical therapy services for all.
• The Health Policy Institute partners with foundations, stakeholder organizations and government to apply objective, scientific methods to the key challenges facing our health system and improve the well-being of the population through research-informed health policy that reflects the best scientific evidence available.
• The Human Engineering Research Laboratories (with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) work to continuously improve the mobility and function of people with disabilities through advanced engineering in clinical research and medical rehabilitation.
• The Institute for Clinical Research Education seeks to improve health outcomes, practice, and policy by creating an equitable, inclusive environment dedicated to educating the next generation of clinical and translational researchers and medical educators.
• The Language Rehabilitation and Cognition Lab (School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences) combines tools and approaches from psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology, counseling, and technology to better understand how various “extra-linguistic” factors affect language performance, and to develop more sophisticated technology-based aphasia interventions in order to improve access to quality aphasia care.
• The Latin American Social Public Policy Program addresses the need to equip future leaders, public officials, and analysts with the skills necessary to design and implement social and public policy programs appropriate to development in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
• The Learning Research & Development Center aims to contribute to the science of learning and help create a just and equitable society, one where everyone can develop the knowledge, skills, and agency to fully participate and thrive in society.
• The Office of Child Development is a university-community partnership that, through interdisciplinary collaborations across research, practice, and policy, strives to turn knowledge into action and respond creatively and collaboratively to challenges facing children in Pittsburgh and around the world.
• The Pennsylvania Child Welfare Resource Center (School of Social Work) provides a continuum of research and services designed to facilitate and sustain positive change in the child welfare system.
• The Pittsburgh Water Collaboratory bridges efforts in water research, governance, and action to ensure that data & expertise are accessible to those who need it, that research responds to real needs, & that students are prepared to solve real challenges.
• The Social Media & Suicide Prevention Among Adolescents Research Center seeks to leverage innovative technological methods to study and intervene on adolescent suicidal risk, especially among youth from minoritized groups.