Submitted by:

  • Maureen T. Connelly, MD, MPH, Dean for Faculty Affairs
  • Joan Y. Reede, MD, MPH, MS, MBA, Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership
  • Phillip Boiselle, MD, Associate Dean for Academic and Clinical Affairs

Faculty Development and Diversity

In support of the initiatives recommended by the 2010 Task Force on Faculty Development and Diversity chaired by Nancy Tarbell, Dean for Academic and Clinical Affairs, a committee were convened in 2011 to focus specifically on the unique faculty development and diversity needs of the HMS quadrangle faculty. A needs assessment of all junior faculty in the basic and social sciences was conducted and recommendations for enhanced mentorship, cross-departmental programming and leadership training are currently being implemented.

To support the school-wide faculty development and diversity goals, three new senior leaders have been successfully recruited, including an Associate Dean for Academic and Clinical Affairs, an Assistant Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership, and a senior search specialist charged with facilitating a wholesale reconsideration of current recruitment practices. .

Key faculty development and diversity initiatives are in various stages of development and implementation in the areas of mentoring, career support, diversity recruitment, promotion, and communications. Among the highlights of the new initiatives has been the substantial revision of the professorial promotion process to improve transparency and the pace of the promotion review. As a result of the successful restructuring of the senior promotions process, a record number of HMS faculty members (103) were promoted to professor last year, and the average time of the senior promotions process was reduced from 16 months to 9 months. In collaboration with the Consortium of Hospital Affiliated Offices for Faculty Development and Diversity, HMS co-sponsored a popular and successful school-wide mentorship course. To disseminate information about faculty development and diversity opportunities and programs, the Office for Academic and Clinical Affairs has partnered with the Office of Communications and External Relations to develop a consistent communications and web presence regarding programs and opportunities.

In accordance with Harvard Medical School’s commitment to building programs and systems that will ensure equity and the steady advancement through the academic and professional ranks of the very best faculty and staff from all backgrounds, the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership and the Office of Postdoctoral Fellows have launched the Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship. This new fellowship is a two-year program available in the HMS Quadrangle’s basic and social science departments, which will prepare postdoctoral scientists from diverse backgrounds , particularly underrepresented minority scientists, for independent careers in biomedical and social science research.

The overarching goals of these initiatives are best summarized in Dean Flier’s statement on diversity: “Merely attracting more minority and women faculty to HMS will not be enough. HMS must continue its commitment to building programs and systems that will ensure equity and the steady advancement through the academic and professional ranks of the very best faculty and staff from all backgrounds. This can be achieved through mentoring, training and support programs, aggressive recruitment, an array of pipeline programs and the strategic management of career transitions.”

Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership (DCP)

DCP and its Minority Faculty Development Program continue to promote the increased recruitment, retention and advancement of diverse faculty, particularly URM faculty, at HMS. An example of a DCP program aimed at leadership and career development is the three-day Faculty Development and Leadership Program, which in 2012 hosted 166 attendees. Now in its 8th year, this Program was designed for HMS junior health care professionals, particularly minority faculty, to address issues related to professional and career advancement in academic medicine and the public health arena, to engage health care professionals in leadership and health policy training and network building, and to expose minority health professionals, students, residents, staff and individuals from community agencies and organizations to health care issues impacting minority populations. DCP continues to sponsor two-year, non-degree Faculty Fellowship Programs for HMS junior faculty to enable them to pursue activities that promote their professional development. In addition, through DCP’s Center of Excellence in Minority Health and Health Disparities, a Health Disparities Post Graduate Fellowship is offered to provide training and support for URM post-graduate and junior faculty interested in minority health and/or health disparities. Recognizing that the residency programs affiliated with HMS provide an enormous pool of potential new faculty, DCP’s Visiting Clerkship Program provides one-month clerkships at HMS-affiliated hospitals to qualified third-year URM medical students (n=60 in 2012). The goal of the program is to attract these individuals to apply to HMS-affiliated hospitals for residency positions and to develop them into Harvard faculty.

Faculty Awards and Recognition

Shore Fellowships

In 2011-12, the Office for Faculty Affairs sponsored the 17th annual Eleanor and Miles Shore 50th Anniversary Scholars in Medicine Fellowship program. Ninety-four faculty members were recognized at a reception sponsored by the Dean. Under the umbrella of the Shore Fellowship program for the past 17 years, junior faculty have received more than $20 million in 1 and 2 years grants to support faculty members’ academic activities at a time in their careers when they are also managing personal responsibilities such as raising children.

HMS Foundation Funds

During the 2011-2012 awards cycle, 195 HMS junior faculty and postdocs competed for the HMS and Harvard University nominations for nineteen limited competition awards. Those who were nominated went on to compete at the national level, with nine HMS nominees being selected as award recipients for a total $4,295,000 in funding. Awards received by HMS faculty included the prestigious Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Development Award, and Burroughs Wellcome Career Award for Medical Scientists.

Diversity, Mentorship and Community Service Awards

The Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership sponsors three awards to recognize excellence in mentoring, community service work, and to raise the awareness and importance of diversity at HMS. The Excellence in Mentoring Awards, established in 1995, honor members of the HMS and HSDM faculty who have been exemplary mentors. Nominations are submitted by medical and dental faculty, trainees and students. To date, 153 HMS/HSDM faculty have been recipients of the award. The Community Service Award, established in 1999, recognizes faculty, trainees, staff and students, who have made outstanding personal efforts by serving the local, national, or international community. There have been 85 awards given to date to faculty, trainees, students and staff. The Diversity Award for faculty and staff serves as a vehicle to raise the awareness and importance of diversity at HMS, and to honor those who demonstrate a significant commitment to creating an inclusive environment and the delivery of concrete outcomes. Since its inception in 1999, there have been 42 Diversity Awards presented to faculty and staff.

Scholarship on Diversity

In partnership with Harvard Catalyst and through the ARRA Pathfinder Award to Promote Diversity in the Scientific Workforce “A Systems Approach to Advancing Workforce Inclusion and Diversity”, DCP continues to examine the institutional and environmental factors that impede and/or support the careers of clinical and research faculty, as well as how an individual’s publication and other related networks affect productivity, advancement and retention. Recognizing the potential differential effects of faculty development across the spectrum of faculty, this study pays particular attention to the career progression of faculty who are traditionally underrepresented in academic medicine. Another of ODCP’s projects through its research and evaluation arm, Converge is the NIH grant “Organizational and Individual Factors that Promote and Support the Careers of Women of Color in Academic Medicine” that involves 13 partner institutions and seeks to clarify factors affecting entry and advancement of women of color in academic medicine. In evaluating the impact of the Shore Fellowship Awards program on faculty advancement and retention, the Office for Faculty Affairs has documented significant impact of the program, especially for junior women.

Harvard Catalyst | The Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center:

As part of its mission to advance clinical and translational research at Harvard, Harvard Catalyst nurtures the growth of junior investigators by providing educational and training opportunities, pilot funding for innovative multidisciplinary research, and technologies for connecting people to each other and to research resources across Harvard’s 10 schools and 16 affiliated academic health care centers. Through its Program for Faculty Development and Diversity (PFDD), Harvard Catalyst works closely with the Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership to offer a two-year, non-degree Faculty Fellowship Program for Harvard junior faculty designed to address faculty need for additional support to conduct clinical and/or translational research and to free junior faculty from clinical and teaching demands at a key point in their career development. PFDD offers two educational outreach programs -- the Visiting Research Internship Program (VRIP) and the Summer Clinical Translational Research Program, an eight- and ten-week mentored, summer research program, respectively. Both programs are designed to enrich students' interest in research and health-related careers, particularly clinical/translational research careers.

Organizational Support for Faculty Development and Diversity Goals

Joint Committee on the Status of Women

The Joint Committee on the Status of Women, a standing committee of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, continues to pursue its 5 year strategic plan to address issues of mentoring, salary equity, records management, career satisfaction, flexible careers, outreach, and membership recruitment. This year members of the Committee published the results of a survey in the Journal of Women’s Health entitled “ Academic Women Faculty: Are They Finding the Mentoring They Need?”

Faculty Council addresses concerns of LGBT students

The Dean and the Faculty Council are currently considering a sub-committee report about the status of support for LGBT students and recommendations for enhancing the admissions process, curriculum, student programs, and student support in this area.

Visiting Scholars: Enriching Our Community

The DCP Visiting Lecture Series (VLS) features prominent scientists and clinicians from populations underrepresented in medicine. The purpose of the VLS is to increase Harvard community awareness of these scientists and clinicians and to present accomplished role models for students and fellows. It also provides a vehicle for bringing HMS alumni/ae back to campus and assists recruitment of potential faculty candidates, particularly faculty candidates underrepresented in medicine. To enhance the visiting lecturer’s familiarity with HMS and the wider Harvard community, and to increase collaborative efforts with other Harvard institutions, activities such as grand rounds, clinical conferences, and undergraduate/graduate student meetings are scheduled at affiliated hospitals and the Harvard University, Cambridge campus. To assist in identifying these visiting lecturers, DCP has created a Speaker Database to serve as a repository of prospective speakers available for HMS departments and its affiliated hospitals for events such as visiting lectures, grand rounds, and resident and fellows meetings. The Database features approximately 2,400 scientists and clinicians who do not currently hold Harvard faculty appointments.

Looking to our Future: Increasing the K-12 Pipeline

Educational Outreach pipeline programs within DCP focus on efforts that increase the science knowledge and interest in science careers of Boston and Cambridge, MA middle and high school students, particularly underrepresented minorities students. For example, Project Success provides a mentored summer research experience for high school students from underrepresented groups and disadvantaged backgrounds who reside in Cambridge and Boston. HPREP (HarvardPrep), organized by HMS and HSDM students and HU graduate students and postdocs, provides mentorship and guidance on scientific topics, clinical experiences and oral presentations. Professional development activities are offered for Boston middle and high school science teachers, thus enhancing their professional learning community. DCP has also developed case-based science curriculum materials for Boston and Cambridge schools using real life problems and hands-on activities, and have science content integrated across disciplines. Programs include collaborations with Boston Public Schools and Cambridge Public Schools. Teachers of Boston and Cambridge Public Schools serve on advisory committees and work closely with DCP to conceptualize, plan, implement and evaluate educational outreach programs. Teachers actively participate in DCP-sponsored teacher professional development programs and also bring their students to participate in several HMS-offered on-site programs including Explorations, Reflection in Action: Building Healthy Communities™ and AP Biology Hinton Scholars Program.