The mission of Ohio State’s MARC program is to train the next generation of biomedical scholars doing impactful research. This will be accomplished by providing undergraduate students at Ohio State with a research-focused training program that includes courses, experiential learning, faculty and graduate student mentoring, and peer support. The long-term goal of the Ohio State MARC program is to encourage students to pursue research careers in fields including, but not limited to, engineering, public health, life and physical sciences, and health sciences – all key to the biomedical sciences. The unifying theme of the Ohio State MARC program is impactful research from molecules to society. We have designed a comprehensive program with a student-level evaluation plan to assess specific and measurable objectives throughout our MARC program and for 15 years after students complete the program. The RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework guides the evaluation that is planned to assess the short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes included in our logic model. Following completion of the MARC program, students will: 1) feel a sense of community with their peers and faculty and graduate student mentors; 2) feel a sense of belonging at Ohio State; and 3) increase their self-efficacy for research. We expect that 80% of students will publish at least one paper as co-author or first author, 50% will apply to a doctoral program at graduation and 80% in 3 years, and 80% will have a biomedical science career within 10 years. The MARC program will collect evaluation data annually, evaluate the data with its Internal Advisory Board, and make necessary changes with the goal of continuous program improvement. Despite excellence in research and teaching and dedicated programs for first- and second-year students, Ohio State currently lacks a mentored research program designed to train undergraduate students in the biomedical sciences. The MARC program is designed for students who are interested in engaging in biomedical research broadly defined from molecules to society.

There is a critical need to expand the biomedical science workforce in order to solve problems more effectively, drive innovation, and address health disparities. Our approach to addressing this need involves a collaboration between natural and mathematical sciences, engineering, and public health. The Ohio State MARC program will train undergraduate students to conduct rigorous research from ‘molecules to society’ and at the same time engage them in community and confidence building activities with other students and biomedical researchers.