Loan Repayment Program for Clinical Researchers from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (L32)

Purpose

The objective of L32 is to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals from disadvantaged backgrounds into clinical research careers. The emphasis on clinical research and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds highlights the need for the involvement of a cadre of competent health professionals in clinical research.

NIH defines Clinical Research as patient-oriented research conducted with human subjects, or research on the causes and consequences of disease in human populations involving material of human origin (such as tissue specimens and cognitive phenomena) for which an investigator or colleague directly interacts with human subjects in an outpatient or inpatient setting to clarify a problem in human physiology, pathophysiology or disease, or epidemiological or behavioral studies, outcomes or health services research, or developing new technologies, therapeutic interventions, or clinical trials.

An individual from a disadvantaged background is defined as an individual who comes from (1) an environment that inhibited the individual from obtaining the knowledge, skill, and ability required to enroll in and graduate from a health professions school; or (2) comes from a family with an annual income below a level based on low-income thresholds according to family size published by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, adjusted annually for changes in the Consumer Price Index, and adjusted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services for use in all health professions programs. The Secretary periodically publishes these income levels in the Federal Register. An applicant must demonstrate his/her disadvantaged background status under the above definition by submitting: (a) a written statement from the individual's former health professions school(s) that indicates that he/she qualified for Federal disadvantaged assistance during attendance; or (b) documentation that he/she received any of the following financial aid: Health Professions Student Loans (HPSL) or Loans for Disadvantaged Student Program; or (c) documentation that he/she received scholarships from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) under the Scholarship for Individuals with Exceptional Financial Need.
 

Award Information

• Funding Instrument: Contract
• Funding Category: Loan Repayment Programs