Wednesday, April 30, 2025
4/30/2025
Biomedical Training Program Directors’ Conference - This proposal is for R13 support for the Biomedical Training Program Directors’ Conference. This biennial Program Directors’ meeting would provide ~500 program directors, administrators, and NIGMS program staff with 2.5 days of formal and informal sessions designed to promote and advance best practice in developing a diverse biomedical workforce and to catalyze research training interchange. The overarching goal is to build upon and extend the past success of the former conference for NIGMS TWD-funded institutional training program directors and administrators. That conference was last organized by FASEB and NIGMS staff in 2019, and there is popular demand from the TWD Program Directors Organization (PDO) to revive this opportunity to gather in person. The proposed meeting is primarily intended for program directors and associate deans (or the equivalent) at institutions with NIGMS TWD institutional training programs including: Bridges to the Baccalaureate, Bridges to the Doctorate, G-RISE, IMSD, IRACDA, MARC, MSTP, PREP, U-RISE, and T32 preand postdoctoral programs. High-quality interactive presentations of evidence-based research training practices and interventions would be combined with informal activities to encourage networking and exchange of ideas. The conference would provide interactive opportunities for in-depth discussions and training, with a minimum of platform lectures. The 4 major themes of the conference are interconnected, and designed to drive institutional change to improve training of the biomedical and biobehavioral workforce. The themes are: 1) trainee and faculty wellness; 2) advancing research mentoring; 3) inclusive excellence including recruiting and admissions; and 4) promoting positive research laboratory culture. Representation of newer investigators, women, individuals from underrepresented groups, and aspiring program directors are key factors for conference admission. The meeting would be organized by the TWD PDO Steering Committee with the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). The proposed MPI plan provides continuity for future conferences, and allows for distribution of efforts; one MPI would be responsible for the programming for each of the 4 major themes. NIGMS leaders would be invited to address the conferees, to participate in all sessions, and to meet program directors one-on-one. There would also be breakout sessions for program directors from each of the various TWD training programs to meet and exchange best practices with each other. Poster sessions would provide opportunities for informal discussions, networking and exchange of information pertaining to the major themes. The specific aims are to: 1) Develop a meeting program that informs and engages the thought leaders in the NIGMS TWD biomedical research training and workforce development community; 2) Promote collegial interactions, increase collaborations and networking among diverse groups of program directors and administrators; 3) Provide opportunities for exchange between attendees and NIGMS TWD program staff.
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