DGIM post-doctoral fellow, Joseph Lunyera, recently attended the NMRI annual workshop. Here is his report:
This year’s Network for Minority Health Research Investigators (NMRI) annual workshop sponsored by NIDDK/NIH, took place in Bethesda, MD, from April 26-28. The goal of the event is to enhance the opportunities and implement mechanisms for support of minority investigators in biomedical research. NMRI advances scientific knowledge and contributes to the reduction of racial and ethnic health disparities.
I attended the meeting because of the success stories that my mentors here at Duke GIM – Drs. Boulware and Diamantidis – shared regarding the impact of the network on their careers. I also saw the event as an opportunity to build collaborations with investigators whose scholarship seeks to dispel health disparities among minority groups. NMRI, established in 2002 by the Office of Minority Health Research Coordination of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, celebrated its 15th anniversary at this year’s workshop! To celebrate this special event, senior investigators reminisced on the impact of the network on their career and shared stories to inspire junior investigators.
Attending the event will help me in my current research, as I study risk factors for kidney disease (chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury) among African Americans using data from the Jackson Heart Study and other cohorts. This event taught me a lot about comradeship! The senior investigators at the meeting modeled comradeship by showcasing mutual trust and conviviality, centered on career goals, as they narrated their stories and communed at the workshop. I look forward to collaborating with the NMRI investigators in the future.
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Editorial note: Dr. Lunyera is new to DGIM, a postdoc researcher studying risk factors for CKD amongst African-Americans with cardiovascular disease.