Education

The BSM Summer Institute empowers qualified underrepresented minority scientists to launch careers in the field of behavioral medicine and sleep disorders research. BSM offers intensive, multidisciplinary research training and mentorship to junior-level faculty members and other scientists who come from underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups or who have a disability.

We offer this opportunity to up to 12 qualified participants each summer. As a trainee during this two-week summer institute, you can expect to:

• Develop the skills you’ll need to apply for independent research grants in behavioral medicine and sleep disorders.
  
• Receive guidance by staff at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH’s) National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and close mentorship by recognized faculty experts in cardiovascular health, behavioral medicine, and sleep disorders.
  
• Undergo intensive, individualized training in the fundamentals of health disparities research, grant writing, and peer review.

After graduating from the program, many trainees continue on to tenure-track academic positions or to leadership roles in nonprofits and healthcare companies.

Learn more about the BSM Summer Institute, including information about how to apply by contacting us at TSCS@miami.edu.

T32 Program: Promoting Academic Workforce Development in Translational Behavioral and Cardio-Metabolic Research (PINNACLE) is an NHLBI-funded career advancing opportunity at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. It is a learning community providing intensive, didactic, and mentored research training to postdoctoral scholars, interested in developing careers in cardiometabolic research. It focuses on 6 core competencies: conceptual knowledge in translational sciences, communication skills, research skill development, professionalism, leadership and management skills, and responsible conduct of research. It empowers postdocs to conduct research by employing techniques at the forefront of their fields and to become innovative and creative leaders in the academic community.

Our Mission

• Provide fundamental training by interdisciplinary faculty in behavioral and cardiovascular health research using translational, population health, and innovative AI-enabled methods and tools
  
• Establish partnerships between mentors (Primary and Peer) and mentees based on mutual research interests and background
• Provide individualized academic coaching to mentees while developing skills needed to develop independent NHLBI-focused research careers
• Support mentees in developing and presenting real-world scientific data in various formats: poster and oral presentations
• Advise in developing ideas for innovative research and peer-reviewed publications
• Mentor postdocs while they develop their research proposals (e.g., F, K, or R mechanisms)

Program Highlights

• Seminars on specialized skills for research, professional and career development
• Multidisciplinary mentorship, individualized to meet the needs of mentees
• Hands-on research experience with access to national datasets and investigator-initiated studies.
• Salary based on NIH postdoctoral stipend scales

Eligibility

• PhD, EdD, MD or equivalent doctoral degree
• ESI, defined by the NIH criteria
• US Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident
• Individuals with Disabilities
• For the pre-application, please click here.

Learn more about the PINNACLE Program, contact us at TSCS@miami.edu.

The CrossROADS Program at the University of Miami is a two-year, NIH-funded training initiative dedicated to addressing one of Florida’s most pressing public health challenges, Alzheimer’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease-related dementias (AD/ADRD). With more than 6 million cases nationwide, and Florida ranking second in prevalence, the urgent need for trained investigators and clinicians has never been greater. CrossROADS prepares the next generation of diverse, cross-disciplinary scientists to meet this challenge.

Our Mission

To increase the number of diverse investigators who can lead innovative, cross-disciplinary clinical and translational research, rapidly moving scientific discoveries from the lab to real-world practice and into the communities most affected. 

Who We Train

Each year, CrossROADS selects exceptional postdoctoral trainees from clinical, biomedical, and psychosocial science backgrounds, with a strong emphasis on recruiting scientists from underrepresented and minority backgrounds. 

Program Highlights

• Comprehensive Mentorship: Each trainee is guided by a personalized team that may include a primary mentor, peer mentor, and additional clinical or career development mentors. 
  
• Structured Training: A two-year cross-disciplinary curriculum that integrates research, leadership, and professional development, building on UM’s 20+ years of successful training program experience.
  
• Leadership Development: Trainees receive career coaching, visibility-building opportunities, and leadership training to prepare them for independent research careers.
  
• Community Partnership: Training emphasizes collaboration with AD/ADRD community partners and stakeholders to ensure research has direct impact on patient and caregiver health outcomes.

Our Impact

CrossROADS graduates will emerge as leaders ready to address the complex medical, social, and cultural needs of diverse AD/ADRD patients and caregivers, equipped with the skills, networks, and vision to drive meaningful change in both science and society.

Learn more about the CrossROADS Program, including information about how to apply by contacting us at TSCS@miami.edu.

2025 CrossROADS Cohort

Jack Stahl, Ph.D. 
Mohammad S. Nafeli, M.D. 
Carla Gibbs, Ph.D.

The COMRADE Program, led by the Center for Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has successfully concluded its yearlong training and mentorship initiative. Designed for postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented minority groups, the program provided rigorous training in neuroscience, behavioral medicine, and health equity, with the goal of preparing fellows to launch independent research careers.

The curriculum featured an intensive two-week summer session, a year of mentorship from nationally recognized faculty, a midyear academic meeting, and a concluding one-week session with National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff, including participation in a Mock Study Section. Graduates of COMRADE leave equipped with the skills and guidance needed to pursue independent NIH research funding and advance the fields of neuroscience and health equity.

Blacks get less sleep and are more likely to have a sleep disorder called sleep apnea than other racial and ethnic groups. Why Blacks face these challenges is not fully understood, but preliminary evidence suggests that the burden of poor sleep outcomes in racial and ethnic minorities (Blacks and Hispanics) may be due to biology, clinical factors (being overweight), and lifestyle factors (shift work and stress).

How TASHE works

The Tailored Approach to Sleep Health Education – or TASHE – aims to develop educational tools that deal with the issue of sleep and sleep apnea in the Black community (and other racial and ethnic minority communities). To that end, Girardin Jean-Louis, Ph.D., in the Department of Population Health, led a randomized controlled trial with 194 Black participants at high risk for sleep apnea:

• Participants in the intervention arm were given access to culturally and linguistically tailored web-based information designed to address unique barriers to sleep apnea care among Blacks.
• Participants in the attention-controlled arm received standard sleep information via the National Sleep Foundation website.

In this study, we hypothesized that exposure to tailored information about sleep apnea would improve sleep apnea health literacy. Our results demonstrated that stakeholder-engaged, theory-based approaches, such as our intervention, can be used successfully to deliver effective sleep health messages. Our approach was successful in delivering effective messages about sleep health in Blacks.

TASHE education materials

TASHE uses education and research to help individuals, families, and communities learn about the importance of sleep and how the improvement of sleep health can lead to better health, wellness, and quality of life.

Get more Information

Learn more by reading our paper “Tailored Approach to Sleep Health Education (TASHE): a Randomized Controlled Trial of a Web-Based Application” published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

As the population of older Americans increases, a major public health priority is to identify approaches to optimize healthy aging and to limit the disabling effects of chronic diseases and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) in underserved communities. An important focus of the Center for Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences Program at University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine (UM) is to ascertain whether the disproportionate burden of ADRD in minority populations can be attributed to sleep deficiencies, including poor sleep, sleep apnea, and circadian misalignment. We aim to develop early intervention strategies to curb the expanding health burden on minorities, especially that resulting from inadequate access to personalized medical and psychological care. 

Our program, supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) K07 award, aims to address the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Strategic Goal 3 of strengthening “the economic and social well-being of Americans across the lifespan.” Our goal is to foster rich cross-campus collaborations between investigators in various disciplines at UM, NYU Langone, NYU, and other premier institutions to maximize the rigor and impact of innovative approaches to reducing disparities in the brain health of vulnerable communities. We also aim to develop new curricula and research projects in translational sleep and circadian sciences. 

Reducing disparities in cardiovascular and brain health is an important area for translational research and mentoring junior investigators in the area of translational sleep and circadian sciences is paramount. We incorporate recommendations from the National Alzheimer’s Project Act and draw from NIH-sponsored studies identifying mentorship as the most important factor in fostering successful research careers. 

Our Vision and Mission 

The vision of the Center for Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences Program is to serve as a collaborative learning laboratory and a university-wide resource to stimulate, support, and evaluate high-priority ADRD research with a special focus on low-income and underserved communities. We have a three-part mission: 

• to amplify, through core faculty, concurrent NIH-funded research in understanding the mechanisms underlying racial and ethnic disparities and testing multilevel interventions (patient, clinician, and community) to promote optimal aging and disease management among people living with Alzheimer’s disease.
• to mentor 12 junior scientists who are pursuing academic careers in aging research from a variety of UM and NYU-based postdoctoral programs, with special effort made to recruit women and underrepresented minorities.
• to implement innovative research strategies in translational sleep and circadian sciences to reduce health disparities in ADRD and disseminate evidence generated from the program into clinical and public health practice and policy.

Contact Us 

For more information about the Center for Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences Program, please contact TSCS@miami.edu 

ACT Now! Stands for Advancing People of Color in Clinical Trials Now! Our mission is to educate people of color about research studies and to eliminate health disparities through increasing participation in clinical trials.

Background

Factors that may affect racial and ethnic group decision making to participate in clinical trials include the following: patient mistrust, perceived racial discrimination, transparency, awareness, culture and language, health literacy, invitation to participate in a clinical trial, social support, health insurance coverage, and pre-existing comorbidities. Research suggests that African American and Hispanic enrollment in pharmacology clinical trials for cancer drugs and cystic fibrosis are particularly low. Addressing the many barriers to clinical trial enrollment is critical to increasing minority enrollment in clinical trials research. We particularly aim to increase the health literacy of the many types of clinical trials that go beyond pharmacological drug testing. To that end, we aim to increase minority willingness to enroll in evidence-based interventions, including mechanistic, exploratory, pilot studies; interventional trials; and behavioral trials. To engender higher decision making among people of color to enroll in clinical trials, we propose an accessible, culturally adapted, electronic health (eHealth) educational tool to enhance clinical trial literacy among racial and ethnic groups. This cluster randomized study aims to test the efficacy of a culturally tailored website to increase literacy, self-efficacy, and willingness to enroll in clinical trials among people of color. We will design a culturally tailored website that will provide leverage for community stakeholders to influence clinical trial literacy, self-efficacy, and willingness to enroll in clinical trials among racial and ethnic groups.

Objective

“Advancing People of Color in Clinical Trials Now!” (ACT Now!) is a culturally tailored website designed to influence clinical trial decision making among people of color. ACT Now! has the potential to fill a gap in clinical trial enrollment among people of color through an accessible web-based website. ACT Now! works with people to educate them about clinical trials, and the goal of the project is to teach people of color about how clinical trials may improve their health.

Contact Us

For more information about the Center for Translational Sleep and Circadian Sciences Program, please contact TSCS@miami.edu

The T32 Program on Behavioral Cardiovascular Health Research is a two-year initiative designed to advance the academic careers of postdoctoral scientists from underrepresented groups. Grounded in leading behavioral theories, the program provided trainees with rigorous didactic training in cardiovascular, behavioral, and population health sciences, complemented by career development workshops and individualized mentoring.

Over the course of the program, fellows implemented individualized development plans, built research and professional skills, and received intensive guidance in NIH grant writing and academic career preparation. A structured mentoring team supported each trainee in developing independent research agendas aimed at reducing the burden of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases through behavioral science and translational models.

The program addressed a critical need in the academic workforce by preparing a new generation of diverse investigators to lead research, secure competitive funding, and contribute to advancing health equity in cardiovascular medicine.