Society of Toxicology Undergraduate Diversity Program - Project Summary
The Society of Toxicology’s Undergraduate Diversity Program will include about 30 undergraduate
students from groups that are under-represented in the sciences and 5 faculty advisors who have
strong potential to encourage students from these groups to pursue career paths in the biomedical
sciences. The number of students from some demographic groups who are pursuing graduate
school in the sciences is far from parity with their proportion among the US population, and the
Society of Toxicology strongly supports efforts to increase the diversity of the scientific workforce.
Selected from a national pool of applicants, these students and advisors will receive travel support
and participate in a 3-day program March 11-13, 2017, in Baltimore, MD, in conjunction with the
Society of Toxicology (SOT) Annual Meeting March 12-16. The aims of this program are to 1)
increase awareness of undergraduate students majoring in science and science advisors at
undergraduate institutions about career choices and opportunities in toxicology and 2) increase
interest of undergraduate students in graduate biomedical education and motivate students to
obtain research experience especially that pertinent to toxicology. Participants will hear specially
selected lectures from toxicologists whose work exemplifies high profile and diverse research
interests, participate in research poster sessions, and meet with academic program directors and
internship sponsors. Participants are assigned to small groups composed of graduate student peer
mentors and toxicologist host-mentors who provide informal interaction and mentoring during the
presentations, scientific and poster session exploration, and other sessions. Potential career choices
after the PhD are examined in roundtable discussions featuring toxicologists who share their
experiences in different employment sectors (academia, government, and industry). The program is
based on the experience from, and evaluation and refinement of, activities across the 27-year
history of the SOT Undergraduate Program.
