Virginia Commonwealth University Maximizing Access to Research Careers (VCU MARC)

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Project Summary The VCU Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program seeks to build a T34 undergraduate training program for 12 trainees at Virginia Commonwealth University. This new program will build on the outstanding record of the current VCU R25 Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program. In support of the overall NIH/NIGMS mission and the overarching objective of this T34 mechanism, we have designed an innovative, intentional, and evidence-based training program focused on developing the next generation of the US scientific workforce. VCU MARC will be grounded in promoting a sense of belonging and science self-efficacy. Our overarching goal is to create a community of like-minded peers who are confident, strong, and have the appropriate skills to become ethical and rigorous young scientists ready to succeed in graduate education. VCU offers an ideal institutional context for a MARC training program. Over 4500 of our biomedically relevant undergraduate majors classify as coming from UR populations. As an R1 Doctoral University with very high research activity and an MSI institution, VCU is uniquely well-placed to succeed with MARC. VCU has a deep commitment to undergraduate education (top 50 for BS degrees to African Americans), research (#56 in Public University Federal Research Expenditures), and an institution- wide commitment to inclusive excellence, as reflected in our university and research strategic plans. The VCU MARC program strongly emphasizes mentorship requiring faculty preceptors to participate in training focused on cultural awareness. The MARC program will prioritize developing the whole scientist. All MARC scholars will be Exposed to rigorous high-level research, gain Elevated research skills, and become Engaged in the broader biomedical research community. Alongside rigorous research and academic experience, MARC trainees will receive training in ethics, scientific rigor and reproducibility, safety, and health disparities. Our MARC trainees will receive extensive professional and career development preparation and begin to establish their first professional network. The institution-wide VCU program will have faculty preceptors from 4 different Colleges/Schools and undergraduate trainees from 8 majors, including, Bioinformatics, Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Chemical Life Science Engineering, Kinesiology, Physics, and Psychology. The outcomes for VCU MARC trainees will be: (A) 95% will graduate with a BS degree; (B) 80% will attain a final GPA ≥3.0; (C) ≥60% will enroll in Biomedical Ph.D. programs nationally; (D) ≥80% will be employed in the biomedical workforce.