Intramural Training and Scientific Workforce Outreach Operations

National Institute On Minority Health And Health Disparities

Investigators

Abstract

Summary: OTD serves trainees in Maryland, including postdoctoral fellows, visiting fellows, medical students, postbac fellows, graduate students, and summer interns. CAPT Anthony Johnson, PhD, United States Public Health Service is the inaugural Training Director who is executing the charge to expand diverse scientific fellowship and internship outreach and build a robust training and mentoring program within the Office of the Scientific Director that will provide outstanding training opportunities and monitoring of progress for DIR staff and trainees. During FY23, NIMHD served as the primary site for mentoring and training of a total of 42 trainees and interns: 23 post-doctoral fellows, 2 pre-doctoral fellows, 8 post-doctoral fellows, and 9 summer interns. One of the post-doctoral fellows and two of the post-baccalaureate fellows were directed through the research collaboration with Dr. Shannon Zenks National Institute of Nursing (NINR) lab whose research program is hosted by NIMHD DIR. The vast ethnic and cultural representation of the trainees included African American, Asian, Latino, American Indian, and Caucasian. The trainees gender demographic comprised 70 percent female and 40 percent male. All were classified as United States of America citizens and one permanent resident with domiciles within the East, West, and Midwest regions. Trainee development as young scientists is continual and presenting their work is one of the most important skills to develop. NIMHD/DIR Works in Progress meetings were held affording trainees opportunity to present research projects and conduct talks in virtual and in-person settings and receive constructive feedback to enhance presentation excellence at NIH poster sessions and national research conferences. The research preparedness sessions evinced 14 postbac and 8 summer internship poster day presentations with one fellow being awarded an Outstanding Poster Award at NIH Postbac Poster Day 2023, and 15 national research presentations at multiple conferences including American Public Health Association (APHA), Society for Epidemiologic Research (SER), Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT), and the Academy Health Annual Research Meeting. The OTD is dedicated to continual program development, progress, and operational excellence. All actions serve to increase visibility of NIMHD DIR minority health and health disparities research and mission to advance a diverse scientific workforce through outreach and trainee and intramural lab program efficiency and effectiveness. As such the following OTD program implementations occurred FY23: Administration, Training and Program development activities: 1) Developed first formal Trainee Orientation and Resource Guide to expand trainees onboarding and resource acquisition for efficient program acclimation. 2) Developed investigator, trainees, interns, and staff recognition program to enhance acknowledgement of actions above and beyond standard program operations and to recognize contribution to NIMHD research and the national mission to reduce health disparities. 3) Developed and conducted a Mentoring 101 Training for PIs/Scientists. 4) Developed and implemented 4 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) including: a) Training Proposal Process, b) Individual Development Plan Protocol, c) Academic Internship Program Trainee Registration, and d) Grant Application System Access and Submission Protocol. 5) Established bi-monthly Training Director and Trainees operational meeting to expand communication, internal lab and cross-lab collaboration and team effectiveness; developed MS Teams page for trainees to collaborate, share research insights, and skill development resources to build trainee community and enhance effectiveness in operating as a resilient researcher. 6) Established Quarterly PI/Scientists operational meeting to initiate continual program needs assessment, expand operational awareness and information dissemination and to further program evaluation efforts for lab efficiency and mentoring effectiveness. 7) Team building was furthered through the leadership and coordination of a DIR Gathering between DIR leadership, PIs/Scientists and all trainees at post-bac and postdoc levels. 8) Coordinated PI/Scientists Operational Retreat with focus on mentoring effectiveness, investigator research talks to highlight research aims in expanding disparities research, and to initiate an avenue for Board of Scientific Counselors review preparation. 9) Training development and implementations include: a) Presentation Skills Training for PIs/Scientists and trainees; b) partnered with National Cancer Institute (NCI) for 4 NIMHD DIR Postdocs to attend the NCI Grant Writing Course to prepare for K-Award submissions; c) Leadership Development Series for trainees to assist in multi-faceted skill development, enhanced operational effectiveness, and empowerment for vast career trajectories within research science. Program collaboration and DEIA activities: 10) Collaborated with the NIH OITE Academy on Health Disparities and coordinated and led a seminar as part of the NIH institute-wide Health Disparities Seminar Series. NIMHD/DIR Scientific Advisor and Training Director moderated the seminar with three Principal Investigators titled: The Research of the NIMHD Intramural Program: Examples of Varied Career Paths and Methodologies which was attended by over 60 fellows and NIH researchers. 11) Collaborated with National Institute on Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) to institute NIMHD summer internships for students of the Health Disparities in Tribal Communities (HDTC) program. 12) CAPT Johnson served as a speaker for the Tougaloo Scholars Program to advance awareness of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) interdisciplinary disciplines and scientific career opportunities to communities of color. 13) CAPT Johnson served as a NIH Science Policy Discussion Group Panelist and discussed public health career pathways for diverse communities to young scientists pursuing career disciplines in public health and research science. 14) CAPT Johnson briefed American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Caucus members at their APHA 2022 program mixer to promote diversity in biomedical research and highlight concentrated NIMHD research aims to reduce health disparities and enhance community and population health in communities of color. Outreach and Recruitment activities: 15) CAPT Johnson served as a speaker for a Howard University medical and science career interest meeting and discussed NIMHD fellowships and the domains of disparities research in clinical and non-clinical positions. 16) CAPT Johnson served as a NIMHD recruitment and program consultant exhibitor at the following conferences to promote awareness of Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) opportunities: a. American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting (Boston, MA) (over 200 professional interactions) b. National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) annual conference (Philadelphia, PA) (over 150 professional interactions) c. Society of Epidemiologic Research (SER) annual meeting (Portland, OR) (over 100 professional interactions) d. Columbia University School of Public Health Career Fair (New York, NY) (over 50 professional interactions) 17) CAPT Johnson participated in OITE Graduate School Fair and presented NIMHD IRTA opportunities to institution representatives and initiated collaborations for expanding DIR fellows health disparities research training. The Office of Training Director (OTD) is centered on expanding on FY23 program implementations through continual program evaluation and collaboration with internal and external partners to further set NIMHD/DIR as a premier designation for trainee growth, development, and program excellence.