Project STRIVE: Mindful paths to healthier resilience for BIPOC students
Official title: Project STRIVE (STudents RIsing above) - Offsetting the health and mental health costs of resilience
Funded at University of California Los Angeles · NIH-11324985 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A mindfulness-based program is being tested to help marginalized students who work hard to succeed academically, while reducing the health and mental health costs that can come with striving.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R37 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California Los Angeles NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Los Angeles, United States) |
| Project start | May 1, 2022 |
| Project end | April 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $905,906 |
| NIH project number | 5R37MH128729-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11324985 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are BIPOC students who are academically resilient but experience stress-related health or mental health symptoms.
✕Less likely to help
Students not experiencing significant health or anxiety symptoms or those unlikely to participate in mindfulness training may see little benefit.
What this research studies
This project looks at Black, Indigenous, and People of Color students who push through adversity to achieve academic goals and explores how emotion regulation affects their health. It will use a mechanistic trial to test a mindfulness intervention aimed at improving self-regulation and reducing stress-related health issues. The study blends psychology and health science to see if teaching mindful strategies can lessen anxiety and other health risks tied to persistent striving. Participants will be identified as academically resilient but at risk for health morbidities, and then engage in mindfulness training designed to modify regulation strategies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the program could help at-risk students improve mental and physical health while maintaining academic achievement.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work suggests emotion regulation strategies influence health outcomes; this trial tests a targeted mindfulness approach in this population.
Where this research is happening
-
University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lau, Anna Shan-Lai — University of California Los Angeles
- Study coordinator: Lau, Anna Shan-Lai
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
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Project STRIVE: Mindful self-regulation to support resilient students
A mindfulness-based program is tested with BIPOC students who are academically striving to see if it helps balance academic success with better physical and mental health.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.