New fellowship program will drive innovative health equity interventions

A new fellowship program at UC Berkeley School of Public Health will allow public health students, along with community partners from marginalized communities, to develop and evaluate new health equity interventions.

Funded by a $1.5 million dollar, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health’s The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the UC Berkeley Training Health Equity ScholaRs in InnoVation, PrEvention, and Social Impact (UCB-THRIVES) Fellowship Program is led by UC Berkeley School of Public Health professors Mahasin Mujahid and Lia Fernald in collaboration with faculty and staff in the departments of Epidemiology, Health Policy, and Environmental Health Sciences at the school of public health.

The program’s leadership unites a cohort of 35 UC Berkeley Public Health faculty mentors, including 65% female-identified faculty, 40% under-represented minority faculty, and 31% at early career stages.

“Despite extensive research documenting the existence of pervasive health inequities over the lifespan, there is little research on preventive interventions to address these inequities,” said Mujahid and Fernald in their grant application. “Thus, there is an urgent need to train the next generation of public health professionals, especially those from historically marginalized backgrounds, to be equipped with a comprehensive toolkit to confront these challenges.”

The program will serve up to 20 fellows during its five-year-term. Fellows will be PhD students who will receive two-year fellowships, including full tuition coverage (60% from the grant, 40% from the program they are admitted to) and an annual stipend of $28,000, along with classroom training in health equity and multi-level preventative interventions through coursework and immersive research experiences. All training will center around community engagement, anti-racism, and social impact with immersive research experiences including research rotations in local community-based settings.

Potential community partners include La Clinica de la Raza, Native American Health Center, Homeless Prenatal Program, San Francisco Unified School District, the California Homeless Youth Project, and more.

“My hope for the fellows is that they will emerge as leaders who understand the complexities of health inequities and possess the skills and courage to address them head-on,” said Mujahid. “We aim to enhance their deep commitment to social justice with training in the rigorous methods required to advance those commitments and serve our local communities. I envision our fellows forging strong partnerships with marginalized communities, leading innovative research, and designing and implementing preventive interventions. These fellows will be transformative leaders who redefine what it means to work towards health equity on a global scale, driving impactful change in both policy and practice.”