IMSD at UC Davis

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The overarching goal of our proposed IMSD at UC Davis Training Program is to increase diversity of the biomedical research workforce via increasing the number of diverse students that complete PhDs in biomedical-related science fields. For this, we propose to implement a comprehensive intervention program that has rigorous research & education activities specifically for first-year graduate students. We anticipate that our enrichment activities will increase diversity of the life science pipeline by facilitating successful advancement of UC Davis PhD students to the next step of their biomedical research career. We propose to select 10 graduate students per year to participate in this program, which has four major objectives. The first is to increase the number of diverse students awarded PhDs in life science disciplines. In alignment with this goal, we expect that (a) the rate of acceptance of underrepresented (UR), economically disadvantaged, and disabled students into the target graduate groups will not be less than the rate for students not in those categories; (b) the trainees’ oral and written communication skills will be enhanced; (c) the trainees’ selection for 2nd and 3rd year slots on other UC Davis T32 programs will be increased, further expanding their interdisciplinary vistas; (d) time to and success rate of IMSD Fellows in advancing to candidacy will be enhanced; and (e) at least 80% of the Fellows will complete their PhD. Our second major objective of the proposed IMSD Fellows program is enhancement of the mentor trainee relationship. This will be accomplished by (a) implementing an annual workshop on mentor-trainee relationships which will include advice from successful senior graduate students; (b) implementing/utilizing an annual IDP to improve productivity and clarity; and (c) having mentors take specialized mentor training workshops. Our third objective is to develop outreach/communication and career skills of the IMSD trainees via (a) implementing structured interaction with undergraduate UR, economically disadvantaged and/or disabled students, providing relevant role models for these undergraduates; b) mentoring of entering IMSD trainees by more senior R25 IMSD and IMSD T32 graduate students; and c) development of important career skills by implementing experiential learning opportunities. The fourth objective is to utilize program evaluations to continuously improve the program and provide expedient dissemination of the results. This will be done by (a) implementation of evaluations throughout the Training Program; (b) publishing our success and failures to enhance the effectiveness of other T32 programs;(c) annually revisit the program plan incorporating improvements suggested by program evaluations; and (d) creation of an outstanding IMSD website for diverse graduate students.