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. ORTD emphasizes efforts to identify speakers and presenters from different backgrounds and areas of expertise to engage with trainees at all levels. Outreach and recruitment are 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 new analytics process has been established in collaboration with OCGR to evaluate the public website and track traffic through the ORTD and other NIAID content. Additionally, ORTD has joined Handshake, a platform highly utilized by US colleges and universities for sharing and encouraging students to apply for career and training opportunities. In an effort to increase diversity and opportunity in the NIAID Postdoc program, a Postdoc Application System was developed; interested applicants submit application materials (CV, Research Statement, etc.) and NIAID investigators can search and review submissions and directly contact applicants. ORTD has also committed to validating and filling gaps in the trainee database by connecting with alumni, working with PIs and lab staff, and building relationships while trainees are on campus to better evaluate trainee engagement, track trainee next steps (and changes to plans during their time in NIAID), and identify trends across all training levels. To meet the NIH requirement that all intramural fellows have an Individual Development Plan (IDP), ORTD worked with NCI to adopt their electronic IDP (eIDP) system for NIAIDs needs. This system is launching lab by lab with plans to have all current trainees in the system by the end of 2022. So far, feedback from PIs has been positive and the information provided in the IDPs will further help ORTD staff to plan programming and further support NIAID fellows. ORTD coordinates many programs and events annually for all training levels: INRO 2022 launched successfully, despite a 100% virtual event. Eleven outstanding candidates from diverse backgrounds were selected to attend the interview event in February 2022 and then successfully matriculated into NIAID laboratories in June 2022. Seven of the INRO 2021 fellows are remaining in NIAID for a second year. Based on feedback from current INRO fellows the second-year curriculum is now designed by the fellows, with more fellow involvement in journal club, case studies, and choosing the topic(s) for seminars and workshops during their Year 2. Additionally, the ORTD Sponsorship Funding Program supported 7 fellows outside of INRO. The 2021 Annual Fellows Workshop that took place virtually in December 2021, provided fellows with the chance to share their research by giving virtual presentations. For their outstanding research presentations, five NIAID fellows were given awards for conference travel or a research training course. The 16th Annual Fellows Workshop will once again be virtual and is scheduled for October 2022; all talks will be held on one day with virtual short-talks on day two. Postbacs will be included in the Workshop again this year, with a handful selected to give mini-talks on Day 1 of the Workshop. This year, the NIH Summer Internship Program was hybrid, with a select number of pre-approved interns working onsite in NIAID labs. This allowed 25 students to work on campus and an additional 9 completing virtual projects. ORTD offered an expanded summer curriculum to include the new NIAID Postdoc Spotlight series, which provided NIAID summer interns and postbacs with the opportunity to meet NIAID Postdocs and learn about their research. In addition, Summer Interns and Postbacs had the opportunity to learn about various career development topics (including Intro to PubMed and Acing the Virtual Mini Talk) in the NIAID Summer Skill Blitz series and learn about the outstanding research conducted in the institute in the NIAID Summer Seminar Series. Postbacs participated in the virtual Postbac Poster Day, hosted by OITE approximately 50% of Postbacs shared their research during this event and 39 won awards for their presentations. Throughout the year, 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 where they received personalized support. The Grant Writing Seminar Series allowed fellows the opportunity to participate in a comprehensive workshop that includes one-on-one feedback and individual assistance on grant writing. Postdocs and Predocs were also provided with a series of Skill Blitzes on more efficient writing and a series on Applying for Faculty jobs that offered insight into the different elements of an academic job application. In its seventh year, the Rocky-Beth Fellowship Program once again supported one trainee interested in conducting research between labs in both Bethesda, MD and Hamilton, MT.