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Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have traditionally been a magnet for Black students at all levels nationwide and have been an exemplar of mentorship models for preparing leaders in many fields. A research career development program for junior faculty scholars that leverages the unique strengths of HBCUs has the potential to promote diverse leadership in health research and advance practical understanding of how to address HIV/AIDS and related health challenges that ravage vulnerable communities. A program that creates institutional bonds between HBCUs and other academic institutions can create a groundbreaking framework for more-effective community-based participatory research. We present a rationale for supporting an HBCU-led collaborative research program, one that both advances junior faculty and explores the interrelationship between HIV/AIDS, mental health, and substance abuse through research in correctional facilities.

Mentoring is important for early-career HIV researchers; it is key for work satisfaction, productivity, workforce diversity, and retention of investigators in a variety of research settings. Establishment of multidisciplinary research projects often is accomplished through mentoring. The work of early-career HIV investigators frequently requires networks of collaborators, and networking is regularly facilitated by mentors. A structured mentoring program that avoids unnecessary conflicts or time burdens and connects early-career investigators with senior mentors from different disciplines may stimulate new networking possibilities and lead to effective collaborations among investigators with different skills and perspectives. Effective mentoring by focused mentors will likely contribute to the skills and networks of investigators necessary for the next generation of HIV investigators.

People of color are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, yet African American HIV/AIDS researchers are in short supply. Complex historical, structural, sociocultural, and personal barriers can prevent African Americans from becoming well-trained biomedical, behavioral, and social HIV/AIDS researchers. Institutional factors that influence the numbers of African Americans conducting HIV/AIDS research include the limitation of early-career decisions and a lack of exposure to research, research socialization, and mentoring. Two individual-level factors that influence the submission of federally funded research proposals are the limited availability of support for culturally congruent HIV research and African Americans' negative perceptions of their own competence and ability to contribute to society. We discuss progress toward eliminating disparities experienced by African American HIV/AIDS researchers at the individual, academic institution, and sociopolitical levels.

Many HIV/AIDS and substance abuse prevention studies in American Indian and Alaska Native communities have been directed by academic researchers with little community input. We examined the challenges in conducting HIV/AIDS-related research in American Indian and Alaska Native communities and the benefits of changing the research paradigm to a community-based participatory model. The lessons we learned illustrate that the research process should be a cyclical one with continual involvement by community members. Steps in the process include (1) building and sustaining collaborative relationships, (2) planning the program together, (3) implementing and evaluating the program in culturally acceptable ways, and (4) disseminating research findings from a tribal perspective. These steps can enhance the long-term capacity of the community to conduct HIV/AIDS and substance abuse prevention research.

We examine the challenges and barriers to quality mentoring for new investigators from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups and propose solutions for establishing a robust pipeline of early-career scientists who are well equipped to conduct research on disparities in HIV and mental health. In addition, we review contributions to this special supplement on mentoring and advocate a multilevel strategy that targets funding agencies, academic and research institutions, mentors, and mentees to enhance the diversity of the nation's scientific workforce and ensure that the public health system benefits from innovations derived from the optimal use of existing human capital.

American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) scholars in the fields of mental health and HIV face formidable barriers to scientific success. These include justifiable mistrust of historically oppressive educational systems, educational disparities, role burdens within academe, the devaluation and marginalization of their research interests, and outright discrimination. Research partners can work to dismantle these barriers by embracing indigenous worldviews, engaging in collaborative research partnerships, building research capacity within universities and tribal communities, changing reward systems, and developing mentoring programs. At the individual level, aspiring AIAN scholars must build coalitions, reject internalized colonial messages, and utilize indigenous ethical frames. The creation of a cadre of AIAN researchers is crucial to improving the health of AIAN peoples.

My experiences as a mentor of young investigators, along with conversations with a diverse pool of mentees, led me to question the ability of conventional research methods, problem formulation, and instruments to address the unique challenges of studying racial and ethnic minorities. Training of new investigators should prepare them to explore alternative research paradigms and atypical research strategies, such as community-based participatory research and Photovoice technique. Unconventional approaches to research may challenge common explanations for unmet needs, noncompliance with treatments, and poor service outcomes. Mentors may need to develop broader theoretical insights that will facilitate unconventional problem formulation. The teaching of scientific research and mentoring of young investigators who study minority populations should evolve along with the changing research environment.

Substantive barriers to research, such as cultural, language, and methodological variables, exist in Hispanic-serving institutions. Historical and contextual variables account for the differences between academic settings with research-intensive centers and those with limited infrastructure for competitive research. We provide a case example to serve as a model for developing and strengthening the research infrastructure in Hispanic-serving institutions and for providing the mentorship Latino investigators may need to compete with other investigators in research-intensive centers. We present recommendations to reduce these barriers.