The overarching goal of the Initiative to Maximize Student Development (IMSD) program at UMass Chan Medical School in Worcester, Massachusetts is to train a diverse biomedical and population health workforce aligned with the general US population. In doing so, the scientific questions asked and methodological approaches to study these research questions will be enhanced by drawing upon the broadest talent pool available. To address the pressing need to diversify the scientific workforce, we propose the continuation of an evidence-informed, enhanced research training program under the umbrella of the IMSD at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. The proposed IMSD continues to develop and implement innovative and effective approaches to biomedical and population health doctoral training and professional/career development opportunities to facilitate the excellence of cohorts of talented young scientists. The strong institutional support of our IMSD program allows our program to continue its culture-shifting, faculty-focused programming to improve mentor capabilities such that the trainees’ scientific development needs are met. Honing trainees’ resilience skills will enable them to address complex research questions embedded within a rapidly changing scientific and social context. IMSD trainees will be poised to handle the stress of research setbacks naturally stemming from attempting to tackle vexing challenges in the study of complex diseases. Our IMSD program provides enhanced faculty advising and professional development sessions to help PhD students develop their identity as scientists and increase their sense of belonging at UMass Chan. The IMSD program will achieve its mission through the development and implementation of a rigorous, integrated training program that includes: a) academic and research activities that increase the excellence of participating students as biomedical and population health scientists by fostering excellence in technical and operational skills to ensure rigorous and reproducible studies; and b) professional development activities to hone “soft skills” (e.g., teamwork, leadership) that prepare participants for success in a range of research careers. The proposed IMSD programming begins in the first few weeks of matriculation and provides frameworks to help newly matriculated PhD students name and frame their short- and long-term goals for graduate school and strategize to get the most of their graduate education. IMSD trainees participate in grant writing workshops resulting in NIH submissions (e.g., F31). Educational workshops are held throughout the year. UMass Chan research retreats are held in fall, spring, and summer. IMSD trainees participate in regional events for diverse scientists in training and national meetings to network and gain visibility for their research. Strong institutional funding allows the IMSD program to offer educational programming to enhance IMSD trainee graduate education. Our program is expected to produce a cadre of rigorously trained, successful PhD scientists more representative of the US population with the skills, knowledge, and resilience necessary to persist in challenging research careers.

Research teams including scientists from different backgrounds have a broader set of perspectives and talents which in turn increase the breadth and depth of research questions and the methodological approaches to these studies. Progress to achieve the goal of having a diverse scientific workforce has been made, but more work needs to be done. The proposed training program continues to strengthen our research training environment to promote broader participation in the biomedical sciences thereby increasing the pool of well- trained PhD level scientists.