While some African American members of this age cohort were able to take advantage of the new opportunities for economic advancement, some others were not, resulting thereafter in different life course trajectories of exposure to social and economic hardship. In addition to measuring blood pressure, extensive data on psychosocial, behavioral, and anthropometric characteristics were obtained at both times. Taken individually, and then collectively, the greater the cumulative life course exposure to these stressors, the greater the risk for adult hypertension is expected to be.
Students typically receive financial support for three years.
The central feature of the program is appointment as a Graduate Research Assistant, pairing students with a faculty mentor in their department. Faculty mentors help guide trainees successfully through their graduate careers, interacting regularly with the doctoral students, and focusing on skill development in quantitative and qualitative data analysis, scientific writing, manuscript preparation, proposal development, and oral presentations. As a result, doctoral trainees become involved in many aspects of their mentor s current research. Involvement in ongoing research projects provides an inside view of how the research process actually unfolds from start to finish. A major conference on the same topic is planned for 2001, pending funding.