The goal of this IPERT proposal is to increase the preparedness and competitiveness of diverse scholars as they train for and enter careers in academia and the broader research workforce in the biomedical, behavioral and clinical research sciences. We will leverage the Leadership Alliance, an established inter-institutional partnership among more than 30 member minority serving and PhD granting institutions. These colleges and universities have over twenty years of experience working together to enhance the training of diverse scholars in the biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences. Partnering institutions for the IPERT include Brown University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Vanderbilt University, though we anticipate that the program will grow to include all Alliance schools as we build upon and develop new skill development, mentoring and outreach strategies. Program participants will include undergraduates, graduate students and advanced degree recipients, including postdoctoral fellows and early career faculty or professionals. Building on the strengths of the Leadership Alliance summer research program and symposium, we will extend mentoring and skill development activities throughout the academic year and expand these resources beyond the extant Alliance network of scholars and trainees. We will develop new short courses and workshops that promote the development of critical scientific and research skills for undergraduates, graduate students and advanced degree recipients. Faculty mentors from IPERT partner institutions will work closely to develop course and workshop content. Virtual mentoring activities are proposed to engage a wide community of scholars and role models from diverse backgrounds, as well as to provide a mechanism for dissemination of resources, strategies, and contacts for advancing mentorship and outreach across national audiences. Career building mentorship will also be provided locally twice a year in conjunction with the Alliance's biannual meetings. Lastly, a multi-pronged outreach approach that enlists Alliance doctoral degree recipients along with faculty and postdoctoral fellows from IPERT partner institutions to give research-focused or career- promoting talks, establishes new resources to shed light on research careers, and provides travel awards for undergraduates, faculty mentors and graduate students to attend a professional society meeting.
This program is dedicated towards training a workforce to meet the nation's biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. Through a multi-institutional collaboration, we propose to leverage and develop new skill development, mentoring and outreach activities to increase the readiness and competitiveness of diverse scholars as they train for and enter careers in the Biomedical Workforce.
