Enabling the next generation of leaders

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The Beacon of Hope collaboration has made significant progress in empowering the next generation of African American, Black and Hispanic students to become healthcare leaders.

  • Thurgood Marshall College Fund-Novartis US Foundation HBCU Scholarship Program – TMCF and the Novartis US Foundation will award 360 three-year scholarships of USD 10 000 a year to students at participating HBCUs over 10 years.
  • Thurgood Marshall College Fund-Novartis HBCU Mentorship Program – Each scholarship recipient will be paired with a Novartis mentor to help them navigate their academic career and prepare for their professional future. This mentorship program will also be open to select students who were not awarded scholarships.
  • Thurgood Marshall College Fund-Novartis US Foundation HBCU Faculty Grants – TMCF and Novartis are awarding 10 USD 25 000 grants per year for 10 years to HBCU faculty for research substantiating key drivers of health disparities for African Americans in their lived experience and informing areas for change.
  • Beacon of Hope Summer Fellowship at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research – NIBR is offering a 10-week paid summer fellowship program for 17 Historically Black Medical School students, to learn drug discovery, data analytics and clinical research practices. Recent HBCU graduates will also be invited to participate in a two-year post-baccalaureate program to prepare them for competitive MD/PhD or PhD programs. Each student will be paired with a Novartis scientist mentor to gain first-hand experience running innovative research, science, and technology projects. These programs are expected to continue annually for 10 years, with the goal of training up to 250 scientific leaders.
  • Coursera virtual training courses – Coursera and Novartis have co-developed online programs to support STEM training in underserved communities and increase exposure to biomedical research career opportunities. The first three courses – training for clinical trial leaders, community health workers, and pharmaceutical research and development – will launch in 2023, with additional courses to follow. 

Supporting the establishment of digitally enabled clinical trial Centers of Excellence

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Centers of Excellence were established with the goal of developing self-sustaining clinical trial centers, increasing trust and diversity among principal investigators and trial managers, and improving the quality and inclusivity of clinical trials, while contributing to improved health outcomes for communities of color.

  • The Novartis US Foundation plans to invest approximately USD 31.4 million to establish four clinical trial Centers of Excellence to increase diversity among clinical trial investigators and participants at Morehouse School of Medicine, Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. And two additional research centers to examine race-based clinical algorithms to support unbiased treatment decisions; and environment, climate, and health research at Morehouse School of Medicine.
  • Howard, Meharry and Charles Drew and Morehouse School of Medicine will work together to form a consortium under Beacon of Hope. Together they will collectively strengthen clinical trial capabilities and improve the quality and inclusivity of clinical trials to contribute to improved health outcomes for communities of color and help rebuild their trust in the healthcare system.

Supporting research on race-based clinical algorithms and environmental impacts on health

Black female doctor

In addition to promoting diversity in clinical trials, Beacon of Hope is supporting the creation of two additional Centers of Excellence at Morehouse School of Medicine.

  • The first will examine clinical algorithms that include race as a diagnostic factor that negatively impact patients of color, and how those algorithms can be recalibrated to remove race to improve decisions and outcomes.
  • The second will advance research focused on the impact of the environment and climate change on human health to help reduce the burden on already marginalized communities. It will seek to find actionable solutions to environmental and climate issues that disproportionately affect health among communities of color.

Our Collaborators

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Novartis and the Novartis US Foundation have welcomed like-minded companies and organizations into the long-term collaborative effort to further health equity and create generational impact. We are proud to collaborate with the following organizations to co-create effective, measurable solutions for health equity:

  • Historically Black Medical Schools: Morehouse School of Medicine, Howard University School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science
  • 26 additional Historically Black Colleges and Universities
  • Thurgood Marshall College Fund
  • The National Medical Association
  • Coursera
  • Industry Participants: Sanofi and Merck