Research Training for Veterinary Students

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SUMMARY Veterinary specialists with biomedical and comparative research skills are essential for ensuring One Health and meeting the mission of the NIH; however, a shortage of veterinarians with biomedical research training has resulted in gaps in research expertise diversity and a lack of proficiency in research animal model development in the biomedical workforce. The College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at Iowa State University (ISU) has an enduring history of educating veterinarians, many of whom have entered careers in biomedical research. Our incoming (2018-19) student class is historically our largest (127 students) and most diverse, and is augmented by additional students from cooperative educational agreements with the University of Nebraska at Lincoln Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences (UNL-DVM, 27 students) and Tuskegee University (1 student) leading to a substantial pool of students for recruitment as T35-funded scholars in our Summer Scholar Research Program (SSRP). Additionally, despite escalating competition in biomedical research funding, awards from various federal (eg. NIH, USDA, DOD, FDA), industry, stakeholder, and foundation sources to ISU CVM researchers, including mentors on this T35 proposal, have increased from $13 million to almost $18 million in the past 3 years. This combination of prospective scholars, mentor research accomplishments, and collaboration with local, regional, and national institutions, along with demonstrated historical achievement of our SSRP speaks to the potential for our success in training the next generation of veterinarian researchers with assistance from this T35 training program. The overall goal of the T35-supported scholar training project and the SSRP at ISU CVM is to increase the workforce in One Health by empowering veterinary medical students with interest and skills in biomedical research with a 13-week training program during summer periods to enhance their understanding of key aspects of, and provide a pathway into, the field of biomedical research. In this new application, we outline a plan for achieving our goals by demonstrating the success of our faculty mentor pool, establishing a matching process of mentors with scholars that is intended to identify students most likely to pursue a career in research that supports the NIH mission, conducting a training program that includes fruitful laboratory experiences guided by engaged and qualified mentors in state-of-the-art facilities, and enhancing the impact and diversity of the program. The work proposed in this application will help to provide a pipeline of exceptional veterinary students guided into a career path in biomedical research and will aid in reducing the critical shortage of veterinarian researchers needed to address One Health challenges.