NRMN: Mentoring to Diversify the U.S. Biomedical Workforce

00:00:13.15 Thank you for joining me.
00:00:14.25 My name is David Burgess.
00:00:16.02 I'm the lead principal investigator
00:00:17.20 at the National Research Mentoring Network,
00:00:20.02 and also a professor of Cell Biology
00:00:21.26 at Boston College.
00:00:24.12 What I'd like to share with you
00:00:26.12 is information about the National Research Mentoring Network,
00:00:29.11 a new initiative,
00:00:31.26 funded by the National Institutes of Health,
00:00:34.05 that is part of a larger consortium
00:00:36.22 of twelve grants
00:00:38.18 to try to address
00:00:40.28 the issues of
00:00:43.06 inclusion of underrepresented minorities
00:00:45.26 and disabled individuals,
00:00:47.25 and others underrepresented
00:00:49.25 in the biomedical workforce.
00:00:54.10 This initiative
00:00:56.26 came about because of
00:00:59.10 research done in partnership
00:01:00.28 with the National Institutes of Health,
00:01:02.16 where Donna Ginther published in 2011
00:01:05.12 an analysis of who,
00:01:07.15 by race and gender,
00:01:09.20 was receiving an NIH R01 reward,
00:01:12.10 the gold standard for biomedical scientists.
00:01:18.05 And, using matched pairs,
00:01:20.22 what the research revealed was that
00:01:24.00 if you're African American you're 40% less likely
00:01:27.12 to receive an NIH R01 award.
00:01:29.16 Subsequent and reanalysis of the data
00:01:33.00 suggests that the same holds true for domestic-born Hispanics.
00:01:37.24 Dr. Francis Collins,
00:01:39.13 the director of NIH,
00:01:41.04 published a commentary
00:01:43.02 associated with this article in Science,
00:01:47.10 where he realized and
00:01:50.27 committed the NIH
00:01:52.20 to try to address this significant disparity.
00:01:55.16 And so, by establishing
00:01:57.12 a Working Group on Diversity
00:01:59.08 in the Biomedical Workforce...
00:02:02.10 this working group came to a recommendation
00:02:05.16 that there should be established
00:02:07.08 an integrated series of 12 awards
00:02:11.04 - 10 awards to minority-serving institutions
00:02:13.25 that are predominantly undergraduate institutions
00:02:17.23 who partner with research university partners,
00:02:21.08 1 National Research Mentoring Network,
00:02:23.27 which I'll talk about today,
00:02:25.20 and 1 Evaluation Center,
00:02:27.18 which is evaluating this initiative
00:02:29.16 and all the data it is collecting.
00:02:33.16 And what the National Research Mentoring Network
00:02:37.18 is based upon
00:02:39.11 is research and scholarship on mentoring.
00:02:43.13 And this scholarship,
00:02:45.00 which has mostly been done, historically,
00:02:48.09 in industry,
00:02:50.08 including pharmaceutical industry,
00:02:52.14 has shown that mentoring makes a difference
00:02:55.12 - it makes a difference to the bottom line
00:02:58.16 of the organization.
00:03:00.12 Good mentoring leads to career success
00:03:03.10 of the trainees, of the mentees.
00:03:04.25 It leads to satisfaction with employment,
00:03:08.23 so you have happier employees.
00:03:11.15 You get greater success in obtaining funding.
00:03:14.28 And you learn more skills
00:03:16.20 for your career advancement
00:03:19.24 and enjoyment.
00:03:21.14 These translate into organization successes
00:03:25.06 for the institution,
00:03:26.24 for the company.
00:03:28.16 What's also been learned is that
00:03:31.11 minorities are much less likely to be mentored,
00:03:34.26 and so if mentoring makes a difference,
00:03:38.04 and some populations are not being mentored,
00:03:41.01 there's an opportunity for change.
00:03:43.10 And the hope is that this increased mentoring,
00:03:45.23 provided by the National Research Mentoring Network,
00:03:48.19 will provide this change.
00:03:51.09 And so, NRMN's goal
00:03:53.28 is audacious and bold,
00:03:56.25 which is to change the face of the biomedical workforce
00:04:00.12 by increasing the numbers of successful scientists
00:04:05.10 who happen to be underrepresented minorities
00:04:07.28 - Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians,
00:04:10.22 Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians,
00:04:13.29 disabled individuals,
00:04:16.06 those from lower income brackets,
00:04:18.23 socioeconomically disadvantaged,
00:04:21.23 or others who have been
00:04:24.01 left out of the biomedical workforce.
00:04:25.29 We want to address the benefits
00:04:29.23 of diversity, inclusivity, and culture
00:04:31.23 in a mentoring relationship
00:04:33.23 and, more broadly,
00:04:36.11 address the biomedical workforce.
00:04:38.29 Some would question why you would want to do this
00:04:42.17 in the first place.
00:04:44.01 The most immediate answer is that
00:04:46.03 this country still suffers from very dramatic
00:04:48.01 and significant health disparities.
00:04:51.03 We also recognize that
00:04:53.02 fewer physician-scientists
00:04:55.24 are from those populations,
00:04:58.01 and those that are from those populations
00:05:01.03 have a higher tendency
00:05:03.13 to do scholarship on disparities
00:05:06.01 in their communities.
00:05:07.27 And so by increasing
00:05:10.01 the fuller participation
00:05:11.28 of those that have traditionally been left out
00:05:14.04 of this career path,
00:05:16.01 there is an opportunity
00:05:17.24 to address the health and well-being
00:05:19.08 of our country.
00:05:20.28 Associated with this
00:05:22.17 is the changing demographics of our country,
00:05:24.19 which clearly point to the need
00:05:27.15 to be more inclusive
00:05:29.07 at all levels of the educational pipeline,
00:05:33.01 such that there are opportunities for all
00:05:38.25 in our biomedical workforce,
00:05:41.15 just because the numbers demand that.
00:05:44.11 The network was set up truly
00:05:46.17 as an integrated network
00:05:48.05 to address the entire country.
00:05:50.22 All the dots on this map of the United States
00:05:54.15 are where we have key personnel
00:05:58.15 in this National Research Mentoring Network
00:06:00.12 who are participating in this enterprise.
00:06:05.05 The five lead institutions,
00:06:07.13 where we have five principal investigators, are:
00:06:09.27 myself, the lead principal investigator at Boston College;
00:06:13.06 at the University of Minnesota,
00:06:15.03 we have Kola Okuyemi;
00:06:17.01 at Morehouse School of Medicine,
00:06:18.27 we have Elizabeth Ofili;
00:06:21.01 at the University of North Texas Health Science Center,
00:06:23.12 we have J. K. Vishwanatha;
00:06:25.05 and at the University of Wisconsin,
00:06:27.06 we have Chris Pfund,
00:06:28.23 all of whom are experts
00:06:30.17 in different elements of mentoring
00:06:33.27 and success of trainees.
00:06:38.03 NRMN works,
00:06:40.13 it was designed to work,
00:06:42.25 by creating opportunities for mentorship
00:06:45.15 and networking
00:06:47.08 for trainees from the undergraduate,
00:06:49.06 through graduate school,
00:06:50.17 through postdoctoral period,
00:06:52.01 and junior faculty.
00:06:53.20 So, across that span -
00:06:55.15 not before, not after.
00:06:58.18 We want to make sure that mentors
00:07:00.26 are trained effectively,
00:07:02.10 and I'll talk further about that.
00:07:04.06 We also want to provide opportunities
00:07:05.25 for postdocs and junior faculty
00:07:07.19 in professional development.
00:07:09.10 How do we break through
00:07:11.07 this grants barrier
00:07:13.07 to increase their success?
00:07:15.07 And finally,
00:07:17.15 we have an experiment going on
00:07:19.07 with minority-serving institutions
00:07:21.07 that are research universities
00:07:23.19 to provide additional research resources.
00:07:28.02 What we really want to provide our mentors
00:07:30.20 is an opportunity to be trained.
00:07:33.04 Our team has leaders
00:07:37.18 who study effective mentoring
00:07:39.25 and do scholarship on this,
00:07:42.07 especially focused on the sciences
00:07:44.05 and the biomedical sciences,
00:07:46.23 so they've developed curricula
00:07:48.23 for training mentors
00:07:51.09 in mentoring best practices.
00:07:54.13 Moreover, we know with the communities
00:07:57.07 being addressed here
00:07:58.26 that many of us from these communities
00:08:01.02 have cultural identities
00:08:04.03 and cultural aspects to our lives
00:08:05.27 that make a difference in our success,
00:08:08.27 and so we need to engage mentors
00:08:12.28 so that they understand
00:08:14.26 cultural responsiveness
00:08:17.09 in terms of mentoring.
00:08:18.26 There are 5 different,
00:08:20.19 distinct domains of mentoring...
00:08:22.02 to learn about them and how to be effective.
00:08:25.01 For those who are really committed
00:08:27.03 and want to spend additional time in mentoring,
00:08:30.19 you can become an NRMN Master Mentor.
00:08:35.19 We also are doing a lot of grants preparation coaching,
00:08:39.12 and so we can train mentors
00:08:42.24 in how to run their own
00:08:44.25 effective coaching programs
00:08:46.22 for trainees.
00:08:49.25 One of the centerpieces of NRMN
00:08:52.05 is the development of a website,
00:08:54.25 and in this website,
00:08:56.15 which we hope is going to become
00:08:58.05 the Match.com for mentors and mentees,
00:09:02.01 in terms of asynchronous
00:09:04.10 and perhaps some synchronous mentoring,
00:09:06.19 is the opportunity to have mentors and mentees enroll,
00:09:10.24 mentors be trained
00:09:12.24 - either through online curricula
00:09:15.07 or through an in-person course -
00:09:18.25 so that they can be effective mentors
00:09:21.11 and be matched to mentees
00:09:24.03 for a 4 or 6 month period
00:09:27.03 where every couple of weeks there's a prompt
00:09:29.23 - a series of questions
00:09:31.29 to be discussed between the mentor and mentee.
00:09:34.05 We're not just going to leave you alone out there.
00:09:36.19 We'll be helping you along
00:09:38.23 in this mentor-mentee relationship.
00:09:41.24 Our website is going to provide lots of news
00:09:43.16 and information about activities
00:09:46.08 with our partner scientific societies
00:09:49.12 - about 30 of the largest biomedical
00:09:52.28 professional scientific societies
00:09:55.01 are partners in this enterprise.
00:09:57.07 Many of them have their own
00:09:59.08 terrific initiatives for diversity
00:10:01.07 and inclusivity
00:10:02.29 in their own scientific society.
00:10:06.11 We want to advertise them.
00:10:07.25 We want to network with them.
00:10:09.15 We want to make sure that their best practices
00:10:12.11 are represented here,
00:10:13.15 so that other organizations
00:10:15.28 can learn about them
00:10:17.29 and emulate them.
00:10:21.16 We're going to have online courses on mentoring
00:10:24.29 as part of our website,
00:10:28.03 so that if you don't have
00:10:30.07 the opportunity to take part
00:10:32.07 in a mentor training course,
00:10:33.19 you can go online
00:10:36.10 and take a mentor training course.
00:10:38.08 Our partners, iBiology,
00:10:40.07 are developing
00:10:42.09 a whole series of videos
00:10:44.19 that are part of this enterprise,
00:10:47.15 including some nice videos,
00:10:50.07 vignettes,
00:10:51.25 and case studies for these courses.
00:10:55.15 So, what does it take
00:10:57.08 to be a successful NRMN mentee?
00:11:01.18 What it really takes is
00:11:03.14 a commitment to a biomedical career.
00:11:05.16 We want those who want
00:11:07.25 to follow that path,
00:11:09.05 which isn't for everyone,
00:11:10.24 but it is a clear, wonderful path
00:11:12.29 for a lot of trainees.
00:11:15.04 We need...
00:11:17.09 we want those trainees,
00:11:19.09 those mentees,
00:11:20.15 who have a need for mentoring.
00:11:22.07 We know that all of our trainees
00:11:24.21 are receiving mentoring
00:11:26.21 in terms of their profession,
00:11:29.07 in terms of their skills,
00:11:31.11 from their investigator that they're working with.
00:11:34.04 They're learning how to do
00:11:36.05 different techniques and methods.
00:11:37.27 Not all of those mentors
00:11:40.14 that are laboratory mentors
00:11:42.08 are good or effective mentors
00:11:43.27 in other aspects
00:11:45.24 of professional life and career.
00:11:48.11 They may not know
00:11:50.17 anything about culture and community.
00:11:54.08 A lot of research says that
00:11:56.25 you need multiple mentors -
00:11:58.08 well, here's an opportunity
00:12:00.01 to get other mentors
00:12:01.21 that provide mentoring in other aspects.
00:12:04.27 We want those who are really interested
00:12:06.17 in career knowledge and resources.
00:12:09.07 We also want to train you
00:12:11.03 so that you can be a proactive mentee,
00:12:13.05 and mentor up.
00:12:14.15 You can mentor your mentor
00:12:16.08 to be more effective.
00:12:17.27 How do you do that?
00:12:19.22 So, we need you to be available,
00:12:22.03 not a lot of time,
00:12:23.13 but effective time.
00:12:25.10 So, please go online
00:12:27.28 and create your profile at NRMN.net
00:12:31.07 and you will get started
00:12:33.15 enjoying this community.
00:12:35.25 For mentors,
00:12:37.29 we're looking for individuals
00:12:40.13 who also have a commitment to this enterprise.
00:12:44.01 We would like to have folks
00:12:45.21 who have experience in mentoring students,
00:12:48.17 postdocs,
00:12:49.23 and faculty
00:12:51.05 from underserved backgrounds
00:12:52.21 or, actually, if they don't have that experience,
00:12:54.27 have a desire to learn,
00:12:56.14 because we can teach you
00:12:58.19 to be a more effective mentor.
00:13:01.20 We can teach you
00:13:04.01 and create knowledge for you
00:13:06.18 of the cultural aspects of mentoring
00:13:08.23 underserved mentees.
00:13:11.03 We want you to be open to learning
00:13:12.27 and improving your skills.
00:13:15.05 Like anything,
00:13:16.19 we can all get better at any process,
00:13:18.21 including mentoring.
00:13:20.27 We want you to participate
00:13:23.11 and have a willingness
00:13:24.25 to join us and to learn,
00:13:26.22 to take one of the courses.
00:13:31.06 We would like you to have skills
00:13:33.10 in effective coaching.
00:13:35.01 Many of you, as mentors,
00:13:37.21 know how to write an effective NIH grant,
00:13:41.13 have served on study sections,
00:13:43.13 have served on councils.
00:13:44.29 You have great knowledge to impart.
00:13:47.17 We want to help you be a better coach,
00:13:50.11 if you would like to join us in this enterprise.
00:13:54.19 We also need you to be available
00:13:56.25 for online mentoring
00:13:58.17 or face-to-face mentoring.
00:14:00.20 You mentors should please join us as well
00:14:03.04 and enroll at NRMN.net.
00:14:07.08 So, I want to thank you from our team,
00:14:09.11 which is a very diverse team
00:14:10.26 all around the country.
00:14:12.04 As I said,
00:14:13.24 we have experts in all aspects
00:14:15.12 of career development,
00:14:16.24 professional development,
00:14:18.10 and mentoring.
00:14:19.15 Thank you so much.

This Talk

Speaker: David Burgess

Audience:

Educators of H. School / Intro Undergrad
Student
Educators of Adv. Undergrad / Grad
Researcher
Educators

Recorded: July 2015

Talk Overview

In this video, David Burgess describes the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN), an NIH-funded initiative created to support the training and career development of individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical and social science research careers. NRMN will provide resources to enable mentees across career stages, as well as mentors, to engage in productive, supportive and culturally responsive mentoring relationships. Burgess also describes NRMN’s website NRMNet, where you can participate in online mentorships with other scientists, register for NRMN’s professional development and training programs, and access online resources including news, a calendar of events, virtual courses and videos (produced and curated by iBiology).

This video was produced and brought to you by iBiology in partnership with the National Research and Mentoring Network (NRMN).

Speaker Bio

David Burgess

David Burgess

As a biologist and a Cherokee, David Burgess recognizes the urgent need to increase the number of individuals from underrepresented backgrounds in science. He is a past president of the Society for the Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), a member of the American Society for Cell Biology’s (ASCB) Minority Affairs and… Continue Reading