Dr. Carol Wilson in lab

T32 Mentorship and Training

Mentoring may be one of the most important determinants of whether a trainee develops into a successful scientist. We have created an exceptionally strong mentoring environment through 1) support of the traditional mentor-mentee relationships; 2) team-based mentoring models; 3) structured mentoring opportunities; and 4) education and evaluation of our mentors. Our T32 faculty members are not only world-class scientists but, most importantly, are all engaged in and passionate about mentoring. The twice-yearly Mentoring Committee meetings serve to reinforce the mentoring expectations of our program. To facilitate excellent and consistent mentoring of Puffins Trainees, we emphasize 6 components of mentoring:

  • We encourage a primary and secondary mentor pair to add depth and perspective to Trainee mentoring.
  • Each Mentoring Committee includes either Dr. Jesse Goodwin or Dr. Olanoff as an entrepreneur expert.
  • Each Trainee develops an IDP to assure constructive career counseling.
  • We use a structured Mentoring Committee agenda to guide the dialog as Mentor and Trainee.
  • Trainees participate in a variety of structured mentoring programs.
  • We ensure mentoring quality through a “Mentor the Mentor” program and continuous evaluation of mentors.
  • Optional: Master’s in clinical research or master’s in public health.

Mentoring Committee Agenda:

  • Career Goals:
    • Short Term Goals  
    • Long Term Goals  
  • Knowledge and Skill Development:
    • Brief description of mentee’s planned research project(s)
    • Detailed timeline for submission of meeting abstracts and journal manuscripts specific to each project.
    • Identification of specific research skills that will be needed to complete research projects(s)
    • How these skills will be acquired  
  • Innovation and Entrepreneurship:
    • Identification of project-specific commercialization/innovation outcomes
    • Plan for acquiring skills to achieve above outcome
    • Didactic Training
  • Communication of Science:
    • Effective communication of research findings to colleagues: receipt of constructive feedback from RWIP presentations
    • Schedule of presentations (lab meetings, local and national meetings)
    • Scientific writing courses, presentation skills, education, etc.
  • Career Development:
    • Identify opportunities to promote mentee (internally and externally to institution)
    • Promotion of mentee’s involvement in professional studies
    • Supervised mentorship by mentee of residents or students on projects
    • Training in the Responsible Conduct of Research
    • Formal review of CV