Mentorship Education to Advance Biomedical Research Career Development

Mentorship plays a critical role in the preparation of early career scientists navigating their careers, an essential step toward building a strong and sustainable biomedical research workforce. This proposal brings together Professional Development Hub (pd|hub) and the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) to develop evidence-based curricula and resources to support career- related mentoring conversations in research environments. We propose an approach that is community-driven, with research advisors (supervisory mentors), students/postdocs (mentees), educators, and scholars of career decision-making coming together into a Mentorship Action Collaborative at various entry points to (a) identify priority competencies that should be addressed to enhance career-related mentorship, (b) highlight local resources already being developed in this area, (c) join advisory development teams to inform resources and curricula as they are developed, and (d) be early adopters beta-testing resources and curricula. This project is innovative in its (1) development of novel curricula and resources for research advisors and mentees to enhance evidence-based practices in career-related mentorship, (2) engagement of diverse stakeholders critical to graduate student and postdoc career development through structured communities of transformation, (3) design of assessment instruments to evaluate career development support through mentoring relationships, and (4) building of synergy between mentorship and other supports to maximize mentee outcomes. Using best practices of dissemination and implementation, we will catalyze dissemination across our broad and widespread networks. This comprehensive plan to enhance training will enable graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to adapt, succeed, and thrive in a strong and diverse biomedical research workforce. Project Number: 1R25GM160996-01 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) | Principal Investigator: Cynthia Fuhrmann (+1 co-PI) | Institution: UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER, WORCESTER, MA | Award Amount: $541,331 | Activity Code: R25 | Study Section: Training and Workforce Development Study Section - D[TWD-D] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11223872