The Wake Forest School of Medicine Short-Term Research Experience Program to Unlock Potential (WFSM STEP-UP) program will provide training to high school students under-represented (UR) in biomedical science to enhance the diversity of the behavioral and clinical research workforce involved in National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) mission-focused research. The program will take advantage of the broad, multidisciplinary research established in the areas of diabetes, obesity, kidney disease, and related comorbidities at the WFSM and partner institutions in the region. WFSM STEP-UP will utilize creative recruitment strategies to provide hands-on research exposure, state-of-the art research and professional skills training, career-development resources, and ongoing multi-level mentorship to reinforce participants’ intent to enroll in an undergraduate biomedical science degree program and prepare them for university admissions and careers in research. The program will dedicate efforts towards providing not only technical expertise, but also advice, insight, and career development skills. Training experiences and mentoring will be delivered during a 8-week summer experience and a nine-month follow-up that will include regular web-based mentoring meetings with participants, career-development webinars, and other professional skills. We will support 25 WFSM STEP-UP trainees annually, who will be placed with outstanding mentors at top-notch research intensive universities. The Program Directors (PDs) have vast academic and professional experiences, a long history of collaborations to increase diversity in biomedical sciences, and extensive expertise in training program administration. Program faculty include research mentors who are established scientists with high levels of productivity in terms of peer-reviewed publications and extramural support, offering a wide variety of research opportunities to WFSM STEP-UP trainees; and career mentors that will provide career and professional skills advisement. UR faculty are well-represented among WFSM STEP-UP program faculty, and many have participated in similar diversity-focused training programs. Program Goals: Two goals are designed to meet the objectives outlined in the NIDDK STEP-UP program announcement. Goal 1: To increase awareness of the unique challenges facing a diverse population living with diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease and of the opportunities for research that addresses these issues. Recruitment activities will provide a forum for reaching UR students with an interest in this research to apply for the WFSM STEP-UP program. Goal 2: To expand opportunities for paid research internships at participating satellite sites during the summer year where hands-on research exposure, state-of-the art training, career- development resources, and ongoing mentorship will be provided to increase the number of UR students involved in health disparities research related to diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease.
