This IRACDA New York State Consortium for the Advancement of Postdoctoral Scholars (NY-CAPS) Program is designed to provide balanced training in research, teaching and professional development for postdoctoral fellows aimed at pursuing highly productive academic careers as scholar-teacher-researchers. This is to be achieved through an innovative blended model set upon the foundation of an existing 15 year collaboration between a research intensive institution (Stony Brook University), a comprehensive institution (The City University of New York Brooklyn College), a primarily undergraduate institution (The State University of New York Old Westbury), and a community college (Suffolk County Community College). The considerable strength of each participating institution has been leveraged to provide strong mentored training in research, a diversity of pedagogic training, and practical exposure to the range of academic institutions where the trainees are likely to pursue academic careers. The NY-CAPS program will recruit six (6) fellows per year to engage in a rigorous three (3) year training program that complements traditional research training (75% effort) with several modalities for pedagogic training, as well as mentored teaching experiences (25%). The program will benefit from a dual leadership model that combines a highly accomplished national leader in biomedical research with one who has been nationally recognized for his mentoring activities with a U. S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering
We have garnered significant expertise from 62 research faculty and 17 teaching faculty representing 10 major biological and biomedical disciplines (biochemistry, biomedical engineering, chemistry, ecology and evolution, microbiology, neurobiology, pathology, pharmacology, physiology and psychology) across the four institutions. Mentoring committees will guide the formulation of an Individual Development Plan (IDP) for each IRACDA scholar, that blends a standard training and professional development regimen for all trainees as well as emphases on particular pedagogies, environments and student population based on the professional interests of the scholar. An aggressive dissemination and recruitment plan will assure the appropriate diversity and inclusion of racial and ethnic minorities and those with disabilities or otherwise disadvantaged in an outstanding applicant pool. An added value and innovative approach of this NY-CAPS program is in its proposed outcomes that go beyond the training and professional development of the IRACDA scholars to include broad transformative benefits for EACH of the participating institutions. Additionally, the partner institutions serve not only as crucibles for mentored teaching experience but as active participants in the formulation and execution for pedagogic instruction and professional development.
We aim to leverage the NY-CAPS program for true inter- institutional collaborations that will benefit existing faculty and student in enhancing research and teacher training activities not only with SBU but between the partner institutions. Stony Brook University's President has pledged significant resources to IRACDA NY-CAPS to demonstrate strong institutional commitment to the objectives of the program. The three Specific Aims to this application are: 1. Recruit and train 30 NY-CAPS IRACDA scholars whose goals are to pursue careers as scientist teacher scholars. 2. Provide a rigorous and productive training regimen for research and teaching scholarship. 3. Develop a sustainable model that will transform the way postdoctoral scholars are recruited, trained and integrated into the broader university/college setting and support appropriate transformative outcomes at our partner institutions.
This application will produce highly trained scientist scholars from diverse backgrounds who will have a future impact on health care equity, quality, and accessibility for diverse communities. These IRACDA scholars will benefit from comprehensive research and teacher training experience that will make them competitive in the academic job market. In positions as faculty, they are in the best position to generate new scopes of research and transmit cutting-edge developments to a future generation of diverse students in the biomedical sciences. Ultimately, the NY-CAPS program will help to generate a new and diverse workforce of highly talented Americans that are fully engaged in issues of public's health and this will bring special attention to issues of health disparities in underserved communities.
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