The US National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities is seeking to boost the diversity of the US biomedical workforce. The centre, part of the National Institutes of Health, has set up a two-year pilot research grant funded with $500,000 of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act monies. Eligible research must be related to minority health or health inequalities and focus on diseases most often suffered by people in poor, rural or minority communities. The pilot programme could become permanent depending on its success, according to spokeswoman Kester Williams. It aims to funnel more biomedical researchers from diverse backgrounds into the field and increase the pool of those researching minority health or health disparities.