Office for Scientific Operations

National Institute Of Arthritis And Musculoskeletal And Skin Diseases

Investigators

Abstract

The NIAMS Office of Scientific Operations (OSO), formally known as the Career Development and Outreach Branch (CDOB), was updated in 2021 due to the expansion of services provided. These services feature: career training, diversity, outreach and recruitment, communication via the NIAMS IRP website, and operations. Career Training The OSO organized and supported many programs under career training, diversity, outreach, and recruitment this year. This office has provided a robust increase in offerings with our career development training, career exploration, science communication, mentoring, ethics/responsible conduct of research, professional development, grant writing, preparation for graduate and medical school, and special outreach events. Notably, the OSO launched a series of courses that included: biostatistics and experimental design, manuscript preparation (fall 2022), scientific teaching, and two independent grant writing courses. The addition of our new staff has increased trainee participation and led to an increase in data collection for evaluative analysis, program modeling, and trainee career tracking. Additionally, weve continued to implement the Independent Development Plan (IDP). The IDP is a critical tool for all trainees that provides an individualized program curriculum for each trainee to include the identification of mentors, training skills assessment, 5- year plan overview, trainee review, and an independent evaluation by mentor(s) and the OSO, respectively. To further supplement training, we collaborate with various training offices trans-NIH, and the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE). The OSO collaborates with other institutes to provide seminars, resources and information on programs that are beneficial to our trainees such as the Oxford Cambridge Scholars Program, the NIH Graduate Partnership Program, the NIH Independent Research Scholars Program (IRS), and the NIH Distinguished Scholars Program (DSP). The OSO works in close partnership with the OITE, Office of Intramural Research (OIR), and the Office of Clinical Research Training and Medical Education (OCRTME) within the NIH Clinical Center. Together, these offices provide an important organizational framework enabling training in the NIH Intramural Research Program. The trainee populations served by the OSO includes Postdoctoral Fellows, Research Fellows, Visiting Fellows, Clinical Fellows, Special Volunteers, Pre-Doctoral Fellows, Postbaccalaureate Fellows, and Summer Research Fellows. Diversity, Outreach and Recruitment The OSO has been active with diversity, outreach, and recruitment. Weve continued developing our mentoring and pipeline programs for training with scholar programs at Morgan State University, Howard University, University of Maryland at Baltimore County (Meyerhoff Scholars Program), and Montgomery College. To increase visibility and focus on diversity initiatives and outreach, weve continued the Intramural NIAMS Training Research Opportunities (InVTRO) virtual program. InVTRO has allowed accessibility to competitive research programs with partnering universities and serves as the focal point for our remote trainees and the summer research program. InVTRO is a virtual turned hybrid program to provide an interactive platform featuring online streaming of basic and CORE laboratories, IRP campus and facility tours, interactive live video conferencing/interviews with current trainees and faculty, participation in laboratory meetings, participation in grand rounds including mock patient visits, multiple weekly journal clubs, interactive courses in bioinformatics, courses in responsible conduct in research, and daily Q&A sessions regarding the NIAMS IRP research portfolio, as well as other components. The OSO has been active with local and national universities via virtual visits to recruit competitive candidates and continues to actively participate in various scientific meetings (Annual Biomedical Conference for Minority Students, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, and American Indian Science and Engineering Society, others) for recruitment purposes. Weve continued a leadership presence through representation on the NIAMS Racial Ethnic and Equality Plan (REEP) working group, and the NIAMS Culture Committee, both with a shared rationale to dismantle systemic racism in the biomedical sciences. The OSO continues to collaborate with the NIH Office of Scientific Workforce Diversity, the NIH UNITE Initiative, and the NIH Training Directors Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Communication The OSO has expanded operations to provide management over the IRP website. Work completed includes an overhaul of the main IRP landing page, new graphics, updated content with simplified page structuring, and the introduction of new audio-visual content. Over 30 lab and facilities pages have been updated to include graphic content with updated texts for staff and publications, leading to improved clarity and consistency of the NIAMS biomedical research portfolio. To date, weve updated over 200 staff pages, and created a more efficient, automated workflow to monitor and update staff changes on a rolling basis. Most recently, weve created a scientific advances section to disseminate our basic, translational, and clinical research publications for the general public. Notably, these additional responsibilities have provided trainees the opportunities for scientific communication via blogs, posts, short science advances, images, and other contributions, all leading to the revitalization of our IRP website and social media presence. Operations The NIH OSO continues to work closely with NIAMS leadership and the NIH Division of Health and Safety (DOHS) to execute policies and procedures on the safe return of staffers to the NIH physical workspace because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the recent variants, the guidance and policies were adjusted accordingly, which required continuous communication with NIH DOHS, IRP staff, faculty, and trainees. Assessments for space, renovations, and personal protective equipment were management by the OSO for the animal facilities, laboratories, and common areas. The OSO serves as an advisor to both the Scientific and Clinical Directors on special projects. We are the lead point of contact for large equipment maintenance, logistics, and planning of all space (facilities, laboratory, office, common area) renovation projects, the NIAMS Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC), and the NIAMS Safety Committee.