Office of Research Training and Development

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

Investigators

Abstract

ORTD serves trainees in Maryland and Montana, including Postdoctoral, Visiting and Clinical Fellows; Medical Students; Postbacs; Graduate Students; and Summer Interns. Katie Soucy, M.S., is the Training Director, and the office has a staff of six. ORTD creates and conducts programs, seminars, and workshops, along with individual support for career counseling, interpersonal communication, and time management. New initiatives brought in new speakers from different backgrounds and areas of expertise to engage with trainees at all levels. Outreach and recruitment are also key endeavors, with the goal to recruit outstanding, competitive candidates for training positions. To fulfill the ORTD mission and increase awareness of NIAID training opportunities, content on the public facing website, social media accounts, and internal email communication is carefully curated with emphasis on creating unique content including contributions from current trainees. A Marketing Database has also been established to track contacts and establish a system for evaluating outreach efforts and targeting specific populations. Additional recruitment through attendance to national conferences and individual college/university visits are utilized to increase diversity in biomedical research and successfully recruit for INRO 2021. ORTD has committed to developing a comprehensive trainee database, including alumni and publication tracking to better serve the trainee population and build a network for recruitment and support. While still in progress, the database has already been utilized for tracking trainee engagement and alumni outreach for career and mentoring events. ORTD coordinates many programs and events annually for all training levels: INRO 2021 launched successfully, despite a 100% virtual event. With over 40 applications submitted, 10 outstanding candidates from diverse backgrounds were selected to attend the interview event in February 2021 and then successfully matriculated into NIAID laboratories in June 2021. INRO fellows were also provided a comprehensive curriculum and specialized breakout sessions with event panelists so that they could engage more directly with these diverse and experienced scientists on topics such as Mentoring Up, Health Disparities, and Identifying Mentors. Eight of the INRO 2020 fellows are remaining in NIAID for a second year; ORTD established a new series of events for this group, including Clinical Case Studies with NIAID clinical fellows and a Journal Club for all second year INRO fellows. Additionally, the ORTD Sponsorship Funding Program supported 6 fellows in 6 different sections . The 2020 Annual Fellows Workshop that took place virtually in December 2020, provided fellows with the chance to share their research in a new format by giving virtual presentations. For their outstanding research presentations, eight NIAID fellows were given awards for conference travel or a research training course. Since last years workshop, the Fellows Advisory Committee (FAC), has increased membership and involvement, including more active involvement from RML trainees. The FAC has also created, with support from ORTD staff, an online resource platform for all NIAID fellows; housed on the ORTD Fellows SharePoint site, this platform offers links to a wide array of NIH resources. The 15th Annual Fellows Workshop, will once again be virtual and is scheduled for December 2021; all talks will be held on one day with a virtual poster session on day two. Postbacs will be included in the Workshop this year, with a handful selected to give mini-talks on Day 1 of the Workshop. This year, the NIH Summer Internship Program was 100% virtual, which allowed almost 40 students to work on remote projects during Summer 2021. In response to the limitations of a virtual research experience, ORTD was able to expand its summer offerings to include a Journal club with participants from all training levels, a series of Skill Blitz sessions on various career development topics (including Intro to PubMed and Acing the Virtual Mini Talk), and a Summer Writing Series. NIAID Postbacs and summer students were welcome to attend all events and turnout for the Summer Seminar Series was higher than in previous years. Postbacs participated in the virtual Postbac Poster Day, hosted by OITE approximately 47% of Postbacs shared their research during this event and won 31 awards for their presentations. NIAID Postbacs also participated in a variety of communication workshops, including Communicating Your Science, Preparing a Virtual Poster, and Building Community and Creating Conversations. Medical and Graduate School Workshops helped postbac fellows prepare for their next steps. Panels following these sessions incorporated diverse internal and external speakers to give trainees insight into the process and life as an MD, PhD, or MD/PhD candidate. These trainees also benefited from one-on-one meetings with the Postbac Program Coordinator.