The Office of Training and Diversity (OTD) serves trainees in Maryland and Montana, including Postdoctoral, Visiting and Clinical Fellows; Medical Students; Postbacs; Graduate Students; and Summer Interns. OTD creates and conducts programs and workshops, and provides services as well as career opportunities and counseling for all trainees. Outreach and recruitment are also key endeavors, with the goal of recruiting outstanding, competitive candidates for training positions. Wendy J. Fibison, Ph.D., M.H.Sc., is the Associate Director, and the office has a staff of four. OTD provides eight annual programs: Annual Fellows Workshop; Intramural NIAID Research Opportunities (INRO), a 4-day program; OTD Sponsorship Program; Summer Intern Program; Grant Writing Seminar Series (4 seminars),offered twice a year; monthly Career Options Seminars; the Summer Seminar Series; and the OTD Exchange Program for MD and MT fellows. The 12th Annual Fellows Workshop was held April 23, at the National Press Club, with the trainee-determined theme, From Technical to Tantalizing: Making Your Message Matter. Ira Flatow, Executive Producer and Host, Science Friday, gave the keynote address. Rick Weiss, Director, SciLine, AAAS, spoke on Synthetic Credibility: Science in the Age of Misinformation. Trainees gave 3-minute talks on their research, and a special skills development session, Communication and the Captivated Audience was offered by the Shakespeare Theatre Company. A highlight of the workshop was the bestowing of the 10th NIAID Outstanding Mentor Award on Matthew J. Memoli, M.D., Laboratory of Infectious Diseases. This award was developed to recognize the mentor who is dedicated to sharing knowledge, fostering excellence in research, and inspiring fellows. Intramural NIAID Research Opportunities (INRO 2018), NIAID's centerpiece for outreach to populations underrepresented in biomedical research, was held for the 16th year. Twenty-six talented students were selected from a highly competitive national pool, to attend the annual 4-day program of scientific lectures, interviews with potential mentors and lab tours. Francis S.Collins, M.D., Ph.D., Director, NIH, gave the keynote address at the evening program. The research theme was Clinical Research, and many research protocols were presented. Discussion sessions included addressing research integrity and human subjects. Current trainees participated in all aspects of the program and provided peer-mentoring for the visiting students. Twelve alumni interested in additional training or career positions, also attended. As of September, 14 INRO students accepted training positions. Several additional students are planning to return in FY19. One alumni accepted a training position, and two are actively pursuing training positions. Since INRO was started in 2003, 342 outstanding students have participated in the program, and an average of 55% students have accepted at least one training position. The Summer Intern Program provides research experience in our labs. Program orientation sessions included guidelines for the intern experience, as well as a research integrity case discussions. The Summer Seminar Series was held, featuring DIR Principal Investigators (PIs). Sixty-eight percent of the Maryland interns presented their research at the annual Poster Day. A Grant Writing series (4 seminars) was offered in the fall and spring. A monthly Career Options Seminar Series was held, featuring NIAID alumni in a variety of career positions. Informal Women in Science events were held, providing peer mentoring opportunities as well as information on NIH-wide efforts on behalf of women in science. Other programmatic offerings included monthly orientation sessions for all new trainees and mock interviews for trainees preparing for medical or graduate school interviews, or job interviews. Special seminars and workshops, in response to trainee requests, were also held, such as Writing a Personal Statement, Communicate Your Science in 3 Minutes, and Tax Preparation, and Engaging in a Difficult Conversation. Additionally, Dr. Arthur Kellermann, Dean, USUHS School of Medicine, gave a presentation, America's Medical School, which was followed by a tour of the medical school. Chris Bart, project management consultant, gave 2 seminars for fellows, and one for PI's on leadership and project management. The OTD Exchange Program was established for fellows in 2015 to foster collaborations among Maryland and Montana labs, enhance scientific understanding, and broaden exposure to career opportunities. The program supports activities such as: visiting labs to learn new scientific approaches; conducting informational interview and attending activities to enhance professional and career development. Three Maryland postdoctoral fellows were selected to spend 5 days in Montana, which included attending the symposium, Use of Laboratory Animals in Infectious Disease Research. For the eighteenth consecutive year, under the leadership of Elizabeth Fischer and Anita Mora, RML scientists teamed with local Montana middle schools to present an Introduction to Research program for seventh and eighth grade students. The objectives are to broaden the student definition of a scientist by providing diverse role models with varying interests and skills; and to encourage interests in becoming scientifically literate citizens whether they choose a career in traditional sciences or in fields ranging from politics, to journalism, to business. To date the BRASS program has involved 300+ volunteers and reached nearly 800 Montana students. OTD projects which support the Institute's diversity mission were continued this year: the OTD Sponsorship Program; the Brown Bag Lunch Series; and the Tracking Project. Competitive trainees from populations underrepresented in biomedical research were again sponsored by OTD. This program was fully subscribed in 2018, with 30 trainees receiving stipends and health insurance. Fifteen former trainees hold career positions within NIH and FDA. To foster a network of current and former trainees, the LinkedIn group was expanded, adding a digital approach to providing former trainees information about NIAID opportunities and resources, and to enlist them as ambassadors for OTD programmatic outreach. NIAID is well positioned to meet its diversity goals in the near future by recruiting these young researchers back to the Institute as research positions. The Fellows Advisory Committee comprised of postbac and postdoctoral fellows, was convened for the tenth year. At monthly meetings, the members make recommendations to enhance the learning environment, explore new programs to support the trainees' career development, and discuss issues related to their experiences. This committee plans the annual fellows workshop, determining the theme, format, and agenda; inviting speakers; hosting attendees at the retreat; and reviewing the program evaluations. The process is concluded with recommendations for the following year. The Marketing Database, a diversity resource developed by OTD, was revised and expanded. With nearly 12,000 entries, it's a valuable recruitment tool for DIR's training and scientific positions. It is used for the INRO program, and for NIAID and NIH open positions. This year, it was used to promote the NIH Lasker Clinical Research Scholars program, as well as research positions in NIAID. An extensive survey was conducted on the Principal Investigators and trainees to identify fellows' learning needs from different perspectives. Many of the subsequent programs planned were in response to the results. An expanded fellows tracking system, providing more complete information on career paths of NIAID's fellows, was evaluated and recommendations for increasing part
