NIH reports that just 2.6% of principal investigators on at least one NIH research project grant were Black or African American. To address this lack of representation, USF’s Micah Johnson began the SMART program to encourage students from underrepresented backgrounds to explore careers in addiction research and biomedical sciences.

“Without diversity in the workforce, minority communities are negatively impacted because research areas – such as health disparities among Latino, Native American and Black communities – are underrepresented,” Johnson said. “An example of this is the opioid epidemic, where the lack of African American researchers was directly reflected in how little research was available to help the African American community.”

• Micah Johnson