The STAR Fellowship Program, is a program designed for junior faculty who are interested in Health Disparity Research. STAR (Steps Toward Academic Research) Fellowship Program, offers emerging faculty a full year of collaborative training and interaction with faculty from the UNTHSC and other institutions, directed toward fostering Health Disparities Research Initiatives.

Ten faculty members are selected to join the STAR Fellowship Program each year, while maintaining their regular faculty positions. The program provides a unique approach that will combine on-site faculty development and education with distant learning techniques that include video conferencing, on-line digital meetings, and "store and forward" technology in order to provide the skills necessary to STARS Fellows to enter into new health disparities research initiatives. All travel expenses for on-site meetings will be covered by the Texas Center for Health Disparities

The primary objective of the fellowship program is to enhance fellows’ skills in writing successful grants. Preference is given to applicants who are not yet funded. Successful completion of the STAR Fellowship Program offers each fellow the opportunity to apply for a pilot community based health disparities research project grant of $25,000.

We invite you to submit an application or nominate a faculty member from your department who you feel would be an appropriate candidate for the STAR Fellowship Program. Criteria for your nomination would include:

• Junior or newly appointed nontenure track faculty member
• Interested and engaged in scholarly research activities
• Interested in developing health disparities based research

Application deadline for this year was March 28, 2009.