Faculty Cohort

SDSU FUERTE (Faculty Unified towards Excellence in Research and Transformational Engagement) is a 5-year initiative funded by the NIH Common Fund under the “Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation” (FIRST) program (funding period 9/2021 - 8/2026). SDSU FUERTE is designed to increase the scientific workforce diversity and support the research independence of early stage research faculty who are committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in biomedical science, especially faculty who are underrepresented in health science research. With the support and engagement of faculty from across SDSU, FUERTE succeeded in hiring an eight-person cohort of early career health sciences faculty focused on health disparities who joined SDSU in the Fall of 2022. Cohort Faculty have expertise in one of the three focal research areas: Cancer disparities/Cancer research; Environmental Health, or Obesity/Physical Activity/Nutrition.