Chemistry of Life Processes Predoctoral Training Program

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ABSTRACT There is increasing evidence of a mental health crisis in graduate education. This proposal requests supplemental funding for the Chemistry of Life Processes Predoctoral Training Program, which supports interdisciplinary training for students from life sciences, chemistry, and engineering graduate programs to create a sustainable training environment that develops trainee competence and practice of evidence-based skills, attitudes, and behaviors that foster well-being and resilience. We will deploy four strategies to achieve this goal: (1) Development of a new program of well-being and resilience training and activities for NIGMS trainees and mentors; (2) Assessment of the efficacy of proposed well-being and resilience training on trainees and mentors; (3) Incorporation of wellness and resilience training into existing biomedical training programs at Northwestern University; and (4) Dissemination of program results and activities to the broader training community. The foundation of our approach is to integrate wellness and resilience practices into the fabric of training and mentoring by (a) surveying trainees to determine the current state of their mental health, well-being and resilience, knowledge of best practices, implementation of wellness and resilience practices, and their needs and interests in tools, activities, and training to improve wellness and resilience; (b) using supplement funding to “train-the-trainers” in how to teach resilience skills to students and faculty; (c) providing free evidence-based skills training through monthly interactive workshops for trainees and mentors; (d) training, supporting and encouraging adoption of self-care planning as an essential tool for proactively addressing individual well-being and resilience; (e) facilitating development of peer support groups; and (f) broadening incorporation of wellness activities into ongoing training activities using online wellness resources available through the NIH OITE and Postdoc Academy. A leadership team, consisting of the directors of the four NIGMS-funded T32 predoctoral training programs at Northwestern, along with personnel in The Graduate School, the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching, and the Office for Research, will be responsible for implementation of these strategies, which will be continuously improved via a combination of formative and summative evaluations. The proposed new training practices and activities will have a broad impact, including not only the 167 trainees and 114 preceptors in the participating NIGMS training programs, but also through dissemination to the entire biomedical training community at Northwestern. These programs and activities will be integrated into existing training activities and be sustained through the administrative resources of The Graduate School and the Chemistry of Life Processes Institute.