U-TEAM: Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Training in Comparative Biomedical Research

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Project Summary/Aims NC State is the largest university in North Carolina, with nearly 34,000 students, including 8,500 graduate students. Approximately 56% of all students are men, and 44% are women; approximately 16% are members of underrepresented groups. Yet, the number of programs focusing on preparing highly qualified UR students for PhD or MD/PhD is low (1). There is, therefore, a strong need for this program at NC State. In addition, team or interdisciplinary science has become an integral component of biomedical research. Yet most training programs still rely on the traditional single discipline training. This U-STAR program combines the strengths of a university- wide biomedical institute, the Comparative Medicine Institute (CMI), and the University Honors Program at NC State in order to train the next generation of UR biomedical scientists in a rigorous inter/trans disciplinary environment. Major program components include: 1) A pre-U-STAR feeder program designed to introduce students to the program and to the unique skills required to carry team science; 2) A “Mentor-the-Mentor” program for Graduate students, Postdoctoral Fellows and Junior Faculty mentoring U-STAR Scholars; 3) A U- STAR program that provides rigorous hands-on research mentoring in inter/transdisciplinary sciences; and 4) Professional development activities that include career and academic advising, seminar series, preparation to present orally and in poster format, workshops on scientific communication, introduction to existing T32 programs at NC State and at our partner institution, UNC Chapel Hill, and assistance with application to graduate school. Our overall goal is to enroll 10 new U-STAR scholars each year, 70% of which will matriculate in a biomedical sciences PhD or an MD/PhD program.