Growing and sustaining a diverse workforce that reflects the community
As Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) advances its mission of improving patient care and the health of our community through research and education, adding more professionals of color to its staff and boosting diversity in research will benefit all communities, reduce biases and disparities, improve patient care and build trust.
HHRI VP for Equity in Research Warren McKinney, PhD, said diversity in research expands representation in communities of color. “When you have more diverse research teams, you’re able to reach more patients for a downstream effect that supports diversity.”
Additionally, having a more diverse research workforce will inspire more people of color to join HHRI teams, building a strong diversity movement.
Here’s a look at some of the ways HHRI is building and supporting a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.
Helping HHRI’s junior research faculty succeed
In August 2023, Sandra Japuntich, PhD, LP, was named HHRI’s Director of Training and Mentoring. In this role, she is leading the organization’s research mentoring program, which includes hands-on mentoring to junior faculty and resources for mid-career investigators to enhance their mentoring skills. 
“I’m excited about getting the word out a little more broadly and support[ing] our people,” Dr. Japuntich said. “Then, we can have even more success with our junior faculty and help to foster diversity [in] both gender and underrepresented groups in our faculty.”
One year later…
Since being appointed to the role, Dr. Japuntich has achieved the following goals:
- Conducted a needs assessment of postdocs and junior faculty regarding training and mentoring, sharing these results with HHRI’s operations committee, the HHRI board, and the junior faculty.
- Implemented individualized development plans.
- Hosted a grant writing proposal club to foster accountability and mutual support and to provide feedback to fellow researchers.
- Restructured the organizational layout of the mentoring committees to include three-person committees per junior faculty member to assess their progress toward career promotion.
Hopes for the future
Looking ahead, Dr. Japuntich’s aspirations include:
- As the program grows, Dr. Japuntich wants each junior faculty member to have an assigned primary mentor.
- Supporting career advancement through annual mentoring team meetups to foster networking opportunities and collaboration with HHRI, the University of Minnesota (U of M), and the Hennepin Healthcare System (HHS).
- There’s interest in potential writing retreats, but this will be determined by the outcomes of HHRI’s strategic planning initiative that’s currently underway.
A pathway for STEM in science careers
In 2022, HHRI established a Biomedical Research and Career Development Award to support the training of minority and women postdoctoral and junior faculty researchers, providing a pathway for career opportunities in the field of biomedical research. Olutayo Alese, PhD, MSc, MPH, received the award, which was initially funded by 3M.
Dr. Alese is focusing her research on e-cigarette use. She joined HHRI in 2021 after finishing a postdoctoral program at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos in Nigeria, and research at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.
Dr. Alese is using her extensive research experience to work in the lab of Amy Anne Lassig, MD, FACS, an experienced head and neck oncology surgeon. Dr. Alese said the opportunity to be mentored by Dr. Lassig makes her research gratifying.
“Working with Dr. Lassig has been a wonderful experience,” Dr. Alese said. “Just coming to the United States about two years ago, Dr. Lassig is making my work easier. I wouldn’t have it in any other way.”
Dr. Alese and Dr. Lassig collaborated on a study about how tobacco and e-cigarette use affect post-surgical wound healing.
Inspiring the next generation of scientists
Casey Dorr, PhD, MS, an HHRI investigator of Nephrology, is helping students navigate their journeys to careers in research. 
In 2021, he joined the University of Minnesota’s Clinical & Transitional Science Institute (CTSI), to co-direct its two summer training programs: the Pathways to Research Program (PReP) and the Advanced Pathways to Research Program (A-PReP).
PReP provides an opportunity for students from populations underrepresented in research to begin or advance their research careers, while A-PReP is a research training program for doctoral-level professional health sciences students and early PhD students interested in clinical and translational research.
Because healthcare doesn’t include a lot of people who look like him, Dr. Dorr, a first-generation descendant from the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, is looking to change that as a leader of these programs.
“We train these students over the summer through weekly seminars on different aspects of becoming a clinic translational scientist or a clinician,” Dr. Dorr said. “It’s really exciting to see these students grow as we help to prepare them for the next stage.”
Dr. Dorr is thankful for Ajay Israni, MD, MS, his primary mentor at HHRI, and American Indian mentors who’ve been with him every step of the way on his medical career pathway. Dr. Dorr said their guidance helped him get started and conquer career challenges.
“They showed me what I needed to do, connecting me with opportunities,” Dr. Dorr said. “They set the course for me to become a scientist. I really don’t think I’d be a scientist without my mentors.”
Dr. Dorr is paying it forward as a mentor in other ways as well. He was a panelist at the first-ever American Indian Youth with Stethoscopes Youth Summit Talent Garden event at Hennepin Healthcare in 2023, encouraging more than 60 American Indian Youth ages 12-18 to pursue careers in healthcare. Dr. Dorr said these events will boost diversity in research, preparing the next generation from underrepresented indigenous communities to work in healthcare.
“Some of the worst health disparities are among American Indian people,” Dr. Dorr said. “By using the Talent Garden youth summits will help to open doors, address disparities, and build trust.”
Boosting workforce diversity to reflect the community
From a staffing standpoint, HHRI is boosting diversity in its workforce by recruiting and hiring more people of color, so that the staff will reflect the communities it serves.
“We want our workforce to look like the communities we’re serving, reflecting our county’s demographics,” said Danielle Hennen, HHRI’s director of human resources. “We’re very close to doing that,” she added.
Hennen said having more diversity and more voices at HHRI will bring a better focus into HHRI’s equity lens which is vital for important research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other sources.
“We’re trying to keep that front of mind with the research that we’re doing and even the initiatives internal to HHRI within our actual workforce itself,” she said.
Hennen said HHRI’s People of Color Representation Data report from February 2024 compares favorably to demographic recommendations from the U.S. Census Bureau.
For example, in the Officials and Managers category, HHRI is exceeding expectations, employing 33 women out of its 43 employees, or 76.7%, which is greater than 15 the Census Bureau suggests.
As HHRI gains traction by adding more diversity to its staff, Hennen says the organization’s laser focus keeps her optimistic that the organization will overcome challenges to reach its goals.
“We’ve got executive leadership buy-in, who see this as a priority,” Hennen said. “They’ve said we believe in this, encouraging HR to move forward,” she added.
Overall, Hennen said HHRI is spot on or exceeding what’s recommended to build a more diverse workforce. This bodes very well for HHRI’s commitment to adding more people of color to its staff and continuing its healthcare excellence.
“By joining HHRI, you get to be the future of medicine,” Hennen said. “You are driving medicine. Having a diverse workforce, getting many voices to the table for decision-making will grow trust in our community in what we do,” she added.