The objective of the mentoring POD is to complement the one-on-one faculty mentorship that STAR scholars receive as part of STAR. It is a learning space to obtain diverse perspectives that will provide an enriching experience for STARs as well as faculty mentors. The PODs (small groups) would be a circle of safe space to help STARs achieve personal and career growth, through interpersonal learning and collaborations. The aim is that STAR scholars can support each other through the training process, by sharing their unique insights and experiences. Within the PODs, STARs will have opportunities to also share their concerns and suggestions regarding overall STAR program activities, to enhance their experience in the program. Ultimately, we intend to provide a space for faculty mentors and STARs to learn simultaneously with others, and a platform to share positives and concerns through the STAR program journey.

The core goals of the mentoring PODs include the following:

• To provide a safe space for STARs as they navigate the STAR program

• To develop a supportive relationship among STARs and faculty mentors

• To develop professional and personal growth

• To optimize mentoring of the STARs

• To provide support for STARs to navigate their academic and research journey

• To be a learning space for the faculty mentors and STARs

Crowdsourcing has a group of individuals develop all or part of a solution, then share or implement the best solutions with the community [1,2]. This includes open calls [3], designathons [4], and other participatory activities. Crowdsourcing has been used to develop HIV interventions, engage communities, and increase local relevance. STAR scholars might consider using crowdsourcing as a method to obtain end-user preferences, ideas, and feedback. The I-TEST study used crowdsourcing as a tool to develop components of an HIV self-testing intervention for young people. Within the STAR program, our team will organize a crowdsourcing open call for ideas about improving HIV services for young people from the global majority. Then we will organize a designathon to provide mentorship and support for iteratively refining ideas. In addition, STAR scholars may wish to design a study that uses crowdsourcing methods. The core goals of the crowdsourcing training include the following:

• To understand the concept of crowdsourcing and how it can be used in public health

• To assess how crowdsourcing open calls can be used to enhance community engagement (especially youth engagement) in health services

• To describe how designathons and related activities can help to aggregate wisdom from communities

• To provide practical tips on related participatory approaches in HIV research

1. WHO/TDR/SESH/SIHI. Crowdsourcing in Health and Health Research: A Practical Guide. Geneva: WHO/TDR, 2018.
2. Han L, Tang W, Ritchwood TD, et al. Joint international consensus statement on crowdsourcing challenge contests in health and medicine: Results of a modified Delphi process. BMJ Open 2021.
3. Wang C, Han L, Stein G, et al. Crowdsourcing in health and medical research: a systematic review. Infect Dis Poverty 2020; 9(1): 8.
4. Tucker JD, Tang W, Li H, et al. Crowdsourcing Designathon: A New Model for Multisectoral Collaboration. BMJ Innovations 2018; 4: 46-50.

The goal of this cross-cutting element is to build the leadership capacity of STAR scholars in real-life, experiential settings. Lessons will focus on developing skills at various levels of leadership, from individual leadership skills to organizational and community-level leadership skills. A strengths-based approach to leadership will be used to support scholars in leaning into their existing leadership abilities in academic and professional settings, at home, and in their communities. Scholars will learn how setbacks and hurdles can be used to reimagine alternative ways to achieve leadership goals and objectives.

A particular focus will be made around transformational leadership. As the next generation of research leaders, STARs scholars will gain knowledge and skills around how to lead systems-level change in their area of research. Now more than ever, a diverse set of leaders from across various backgrounds and disciplines are required to advance health equity.

The core goals of this leadership element include the following:

• To help STARs uncover their leadership potential as the next generation of HIV prevention research scholars

• To prepare STARs to become change makers in HIV and health equity research and practice through transformational leadership skill-building

• To advance STARs understanding of cultural strengths-based approaches to leadership as scholars from diverse backgrounds

• To have STARs practice the application of leadership skills in real-world, experiential settings

In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 30,635 people 13 years or older received a diagnosis of HIV in the U.S. Despite representing 13% of the U.S. population, Black/African Americans accounted for 42% of all new HIV diagnoses (Black men who have sex with men [MSM] accounted for 26%)  [1]. Equally concerning, while Latinx/Hispanics make up 19% of the U.S. population, they accounted for 27% of all new HIV diagnoses (Latino MSM accounted for 21%)[1]. These disproportionate rates of HIV diagnosis relative to population density represents a significant and concerning health disparity. Even more concerning is that while these members of our community are disproportionately impacted by HIV, they remain among the least represented in research, a factor that is likely to maintain these health inequities.

Applying a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) lens ensures that ideas, information, and solutions to health concerns are contextualized and solutions are tailored to populations most impacted by HIV. The research enterprise often prioritizes academic knowledge alone and devalues or underappreciates the role of lived experience in driving creative and innovative solutions to societal problems. By engaging diverse scholars who are trained in JEDI practices, we have the capacity to push the field of HIV research. We can bring an array of lived experiences, challenge inequities as JEDI trained scholars, and develop unique solutions to longstanding problems. STAR participants will receive training on how to develop, design, and implement research questions related to HIV through a JEDI lens. Training will involve applied activities that center principles of cultural humility (critical self-reflection, recognizing and challenging power imbalances, and institutional change), dismantle barriers to academic success (e.g., imposter syndrome, stereotype threat), promote facilitators of academic success (e.g., rest, imagination, self-compassion, validation) and illustrate pathways to connect our intersectional identities (ADDRESSING framework) into scholarship that uplifts our communities.

After completing the JEDI portion of STAR, trainees will be able to:

• Identify how justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion relate to their research interests

• Explore the ways in which their identities inform and relate to the work that they are pursuing

• Define facilitators of academic success and develop strategies to prioritize them

• Articulate the importance of engaging in critical self reflection, recognizing and challenging power imbalances, and promoting institutional change (i.e., put cultural humility into practice)

• Identify barriers to academic success and ways to overcome these barriers

1. HIV surveillance. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/library/reports/hiv-surveillance.html. Published August 26, 2023.

When conducting research, it is important to have a clear sense of who is funding the work and why, especially when working in resource limited settings, given the number one reason most projects never last is due to lack of funding.

Therefore, from the beginning of a research project, it is important to start with funding. Simultaneously, it is also important to start with storytelling. The story behind each grant matters. Learning how to articulate the story of why you are passionate about your work as well as why the work is important will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of finding, writing, and ultimately securing funding for your research.

While there are many types of grants to write from private institutions or other public/governmental agencies, learning and mastering how to write NIH grants will expand the skills of new grant writers and provide a more heightened and in-depth experience that can be translated to other funding mechanisms. Becoming deeply familiar with NIH grants is also vital because they are the largest funder of research with over $45 billion dollars at their disposal. Being able to write to meet the rigorousness of NIG guidelines will also help to ensure new grant writers are thoroughly trained and maximize their success in the highly competitive world of grant writing. If you master the art of writing an NIH grant, from the focus on specific aims to the approach section, even the section on innovation, then you will be prepared to use these same skills elsewhere.

Through the STAR Institute, we will provide hands-on experience with writing NIH grants, share examples from both successful and failed grants, and ultimately teach STAR Scholars how to craft stories as well-written grants that will allow you to find your voice as you carry out evidence-based research that lasts.

Goals:

• Understand the elements of a NIH grant application: bio-sketch, specific aims, innovation, significance, approach, etc.

• Identify key strategies and recommendations for preparing successful NIH grants.

• Describe processes that lead to a productive interaction with funding officials (e.g., program officers).

• Understand the review mechanisms for a NIH grant application.

• Understand the principles used to move from an initial idea to a fully developed grant application.

• Identify common problems with grant proposals and reasons proposals are not funded.

• Understand the principles that guide the protection of human subjects and informed consent in research and prepare an application.

• Evaluate their own and other STAR Scholars’ progress in addressing the issues above.