Kudos to John Myers, faculty, Christin Daniels, assistant dean of Research Development, and their entire team for the submission of their Duke Faculty Advancement Seed Grant application entitled: “Breaking Research Barriers: Conversations to Ensure Racial Justice and Equity in Research Practices.” This proposal requests funding for a one-year period with a start date of March 1, 2021.

The goal of this project is to raise awareness of racial justice and equity at each component of the research lifecycle. We aim to realize this goal by developing and streaming a podcast, Breaking Research Barriers, which will consist of monthly conversations with research leaders. Our proposal is significant because, while racism and bias in research may be unconscious and accidental, it dramatically impacts both clinical research and clinical care. Our proposal is innovative because podcast discussions will elicit actionable and applied strategies to ensure racial justice and equity in clinical research. Clinical research seeks to improve clinical care by advancing the scientific and technical capabilities of clinicians. We will confront racism and bias by addressing the main pillars of clinical research through our conversations – funding, motivation, project design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination. We will build bridges and make stronger connections not only with the next generation of clinical researchers who seek and depend on these newer forms of communication, but also with more senior clinical researchers who are the traditional decision-makers for funding and planning. Our team members have proven track records of accomplishment building bridges and leading multidisciplinary enterprises. Few attempts have been made to investigate the role streaming platforms has on clinical research tactics and deployment. As the 2nd top ranked School of Nursing in the US, Breaking Research Barriers, will highlight our expertise and work completed at Duke while solidifying our role as academic leaders in promoting racial justice and equity in clinical research.