VCU Initiative for Maximizing Student Development Program (IMSD)

项目摘要 VCU最大化学生发展倡议（IMSD）计划有着出色的记录， 自2010年成立以来，教育生物医学研究中代表性不足的学者。IMSD计划 以前作为R25支持，现在在T32机制下正式化，同时保持严格性， 在生物医学科学方面，少数群体的培训工作成绩优异。该计划已招收26名前- 博士生和毕业的10名学者博士，目前有13名正在培训。我们的毕业生 我继续从事生物医学行业的科学家职业，并进入博士后研究职位， 有声望的机构。该VCU IMSD计划有一个强烈的重视导师与教师接收 指导培训。安全的实验室实践、严谨性和可重复性以及定量研究是必不可少的要素 在这个培训计划，以确保我们发展了一个多元化的科学家与技能，影响生物医学 research. IMSD计划位于健康差异中心内，并构成了一个综合的一部分。 NIGMS支持的研究培训计划的队列。每年将有三名学生从不断增长的 VCU医学院生物医学研究项目的申请人，并获得两项资助 年，导致6资助学者/年的队列。VCU IMSD T32是一个跨学科的计划， 在不同学科（神经科学，微生物学和免疫学， 药理学和毒理学、生理学和生物物理学、分子和人类遗传学）。除了有 学科的具体要求，IMSD计划将提供课程活动，包括机会， 参与健康差异课程。将健康差异课程纳入研究生课程将 在培养生物医学专业所需的能力和激励 帮助学生在他们不同的职业生涯中消除健康差距。IMSD学者将被接受进入 计划早期和接触到博士预科课程在夏季入学前，他们的博士课程。 博士预科课程将专注于培养批判性思维技能，提供实验室研究和迷你 生物化学课程，为学生准备研究生培训的严格性。导师将接受以下培训： 指导的几个方面，包括有效的沟通和发展与学员的契约。一 一批教员已接受培训，成为指导的促进者，包括该培训补助金的PI。 该计划的长期目标是增加申请人数不足的少数民族的博士学位 计划，并促进学员追求生物医学研究作为职业道路。预计VCU IMSD计划将继续丰富个别学生学者，更广泛的学习社区和 国家高等教育体系。

Project Summary The VCU Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program has had an outstanding record of educating underrepresented scholars in biomedical research since its inception in 2010. The IMSD program previously supported as a R25 is now being formalized under a T32 mechanism while maintaining the rigor and excellence of training underrepresented minorities in biomedical sciences. The program has enrolled 26 pre- doctoral students and graduated 10 scholars with a PhD, with 13 that are currently in training. Our graduates have gone on to careers as scientists in biomedical industries and into postdoctoral research positions at highly prestigious institutions. The VCU IMSD program has a strong emphasis on mentorship with faculty receiving mentorship training. Safe lab practices, rigor and reproducibility and quantitative studies are essential elements within this training program to ensure that we develop a diverse pool of scientists with skills to impact biomedical research. The IMSD program is housed within the Center on Health Disparities and forms part of an integrative cohort of NIGMS supported research training programs. Three students per year will be selected from a growing pool of applicants to the biomedical research programs at VCU School of Medicine and receive funding for two years, resulting in a cohort of 6 funded scholars/year. The VCU IMSD T32 is an interdisciplinary program with state-of-the-art biomedical research training in diverse disciplines (Neuroscience, Microbiology and Immunology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Physiology and Biophysics, Molecular and Human Genetics). In addition to the discipline specific requirements, the IMSD program will provide curricular activities that include opportunities to engage in health disparities courses. Incorporating health disparities courses into graduate-level curriculum will be of additional value in developing competencies necessary for biomedical professions and in motivating students to help eliminate health disparities during their diverse careers. IMSD scholars will be accepted into the program early and exposed to a pre-PhD program during summer prior to matriculation to their PhD programs. The pre-PhD program will focus on developing critical thinking skills, provide laboratory research and mini- course in Biochemistry to prepare students for the rigor of graduate training. Mentors will receive training in several aspects of mentoring including effective communication and developing compacts with the mentees. A cohort of faculty members have been trained as facilitators for mentoring, including the PI’s of this training grant. The long-term goal of this program is to increase the applicant pool of underrepresented minorities to the PhD programs and facilitate trainees to pursue biomedical research as a career path. It is expected that the VCU IMSD program will continue to enrich the individual student scholar, the broader learning community and the nations system of higher education.