NICHD Office of Education

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health & Human Development

Investigators

Abstract

The Office of Education (OE) delivers workshops, programs, and individualized opportunities to a population averaging 300 trainees, including postdoctoral IRTA, visiting, and research fellows; clinical fellows and medical students; graduate students; postbaccalaureate fellows; and summer interns. The activities include: scientific presentation skills workshops, job interviewing, writing and editorial services for professional school and job applications, grantsmanship workshops, academic and non-academic career seminars and webinars, one-on-one career counseling, clinical shadowing, teaching opportunities through our annual NICHD Postbac Seminar Series, and lab management programs. We are also actively working on collaborations with undergraduate institutions, including Howard University, for research, teaching, and mentoring opportunities. An annual retreat for fellows and graduate students is held to address scientific development and careers, which includes a keynote address, fellows presentations, career round table discussions led by NICHD alumni, and a poster presentation by each attendee. The program is developed and run with the assistance of a fellow-student steering committee. We also work collaboratively with various offices and scientific groups within DIR to achieve training goals and policy development, such as tenure track mentoring, fellow stipends increase, and affinity group seminar series for invited speakers. Dr. Megan Bohn completed her first year as OE Director. We are actively developing recruitment and outreach through communication with colleges and universities and through collaboration with the NIH Office of Intramural Training and Education. Additionally, the OE collaborated with NIDDK, NHLBI, and NINDS training offices to organize the 2025 Biophysics Fellows’ Research Conference, a two-day meeting on the NIH campus in which invited graduate students (outside of NIH) had the opportunity to hear about NIH research and training opportunities. The DIR partnership with Howard University for research, training and mentoring opportunities continues. Honors Biology program students from the College of Arts and Sciences are paired with NICHD investigators, working closely to develop and execute a research project and honors thesis from their sophomore through their senior years of college. Mentees are also invited to participate in the NIH Summer Internship Program. The NIH-wide TmT (Three-minute Talks) competition, now in its eleventh year, is led by the office and was held in conjunction with ten other institutes: NIMH, NLM, NHGRI, NIDDK, NIEHS, NIAMS, NEI, NIAID, NIDCD, NCATS, and NIDCR. Jack Waite, postbac fellow from Dr. Pedro Rocha’s laboratory and mentored by NICHD postdoc and K99 awardee Dr. Joyce Thompson in the Unit on Genome Structure and Regulation, was the DIR finalist and won first place in the NIH-wide competition in June. The office developed an online Annual Progress Review (APR) for all postdoctoral fellows, launched in 2016, to track scientific and career development and progress. As part of investigators' assessments of mentoring, these fellow APR reports are also provided for the BSC site visits. Data analysis demonstrates a marked increase in postdocs applying for grant opportunities in recent years. An Individual Development Plan and Annual Progress Report system for NICHD postbac fellows was implemented in FY24 and is currently in its third year. In addition, an online fellows exit survey was developed and implemented in summer 2022. This exit survey continues to obtain a comprehensive view of trainees’ experiences at NICHD, to stay connected with the trainees and learn of their career moves, as well as to help us improve our training program. The 17th NICHD Division of Intramural Research Mentor of the Year awards will be announced at the September 19th NICHD Scientific Retreat. For NICHD, 13 FARE awards were made for the FY2026 competition. Internal grant writing opportunities are available for fellows, staff scientists and staff clinicians through the DIR Early Career Awards. Among early career researchers in the DIR, 96 applications, in the form of original research proposals, were received in FY25, and 46 received funding to support research and career development. The DIR boasts a strong record of K99/R00 successes among the postdoc community. In FY25, seven postdoc fellows were completing their K99 phase. A grant writing incentive award is available to all K99/R00 awardees in the DIR—these postdocs receive a consumables budget and a postbac slot, funded centrally, to support their career transition toward independence. The NICHD Fellows Recruitment Incentive Award (FRIA) and Developing Talent Scholars Program, which focus on recruitment and customized academic and professional development experiences, respectively, will both continue in FY26. The alumni group of these programs includes over 30 individuals who have gone on to pursue training in medicine, biomedical research, occupational therapy, and public health. Since FY23, central funding for predoctoral fellows in the Graduate Partnership Program has been provided by the Office of the Scientific Director. Predoctoral fellows can receive support for tuition and academic fees; additionally, up to four predoctoral fellows are competitively selected to receive central support for their stipend and health insurance. Lastly, the NICHD Connection monthly newsletter continues its focus on mentoring, careers, and academic support programs for young scientists, publishing its 180th issue in August 2025, and reaching all members of the intramural division.