Research Experience and Training Coordination Core

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Project Summary. The RETCC has played a coordinating role in the success of ULSRC since its inception in September 2017. By working closely with other NIEHS-supported training programs at the UofL (T32ES011564; T35ES014559), the RETCC has developed a rich, diverse, and comprehensive training program that is both multidisciplinary and inclusive. In addition to the course work and ‘on the bench’ training activities, RETCC routinely organizes participatory field trips to the Lee’s Lane Superfund site to better understand and appreciate health concerns of residents in the adjacent community of Riverside Gardens; facilitates the meeting of trainees with regional Superfund site coordinators and officials and the Metro Louisville Public Health and Wellness Department. Our training core in collaboration with Superfund Research Centers at Duke University, University of Kentucky, and University of Pennsylvania organized a trip to Washington, D.C. so trainees could attend a Science and Policy Institute meeting that included interactions with congressional leaders and their staff. Such activities have been instrumental in the well-rounded growth of our trainees. Moreover, these trainees not only provide “the force that turns the wheel” but also are the focus and hub of intellectual crosstalk and fertilization across projects, cores, other SRCs and the National SRP. To date, ULSRC success is the product of our trainees’ successes through their many accomplishments including publications, presentations, awards, degrees, fellowships, interactions with community partners, and environmental health sciences-related career opportunities. Thus, although we are proud of our current success via integration of trainee activities across the ULSRC, we continue to strive to build on these successes by implementing innovative and unifying features into RETCC-directed activities that focus on fulfilling the goals and furthering the success of our trainees.