Affuso Olivia, Buckley Lecretia, Gamble Abigail, Heitman Elizabeth, Tyrone Rachel S, Reneker Jennifer C
Council on Black Health, Knightdale, NC, USA.
Department of Advanced Biomedical Education, School of Medicine, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA.
Eval Program Plann. 2025 Aug;111:102606. doi: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2025.102606. Epub 2025 May 10.
A novel Graduate Training and Education Center (GTEC) under the National Institutes of Health funded Jackson Heart Study (JHS) at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) was launched for doctoral students from backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical sciences. UMMC GTEC supports scholars through a program in cardiovascular epidemiology with research training institutes, scientific mentoring, and participation in professional coaching. This manuscript describes the program's origins, features, and evaluation findings, and discusses the feasibility and limits of complementary research training and mentoring to enhance the biomedical research workforce.
A program evaluation framework was used to describe the processes, outcomes, and lessons learned. Data from program graduates were synthesized using a convergent parallel design.
Between 2021 - 2024, 22 scholars graduated from UMMC GTEC, all of whom were from groups characterized by the National Science Foundation as underrepresented in biomedical research in the United States. There was evidence of convergence between the qualitative themes with eight quantitative measures to support the findings of significant increases in self-efficacy for science communication, varying changes in career outcome expectations, and no significant changes in science identity. Five findings diverged on career interests and mentor influence. Five scholars (22.7 %) submitted their UMMC GTEC project manuscripts to a peer-reviewed journal, four (80.0 %) of which have been published. Fifteen of 22 scholars (68.2 %) submitted abstracts for presentation at national conferences.
The feasibility of peer-reviewed publication during the training program was low but the submission of conference abstracts from completed projects was high. Mentors worked effectively with each scholar, and the program contributed positively to the number of next generation cardiovascular epidemiology researchers in Mississippi.
美国国立卫生研究院资助的密西西比大学医学中心（UMMC）开展了一项新型研究生培训与教育中心（GTEC），面向生物医学领域代表性不足的博士生。UMMC GTEC通过心血管流行病学项目，为学者提供研究培训、科学指导和专业辅导。本文描述了该项目的起源、特点和评估结果，并讨论了补充研究培训和指导以增强生物医学研究人员队伍的可行性和局限性。
采用项目评估框架来描述过程、结果和经验教训。使用收敛平行设计对项目毕业生的数据进行综合分析。
2021年至2024年期间，22名学者从UMMC GTEC毕业，他们均来自美国国家科学基金会认定的在生物医学研究中代表性不足的群体。定性主题与八项定量指标之间存在趋同证据，支持了科学传播自我效能显著提高、职业成果期望变化各异以及科学认同感无显著变化的研究结果。在职业兴趣和导师影响方面有五项结果存在分歧。五名学者（22.7%）将他们在UMMC GTEC的项目手稿提交给同行评审期刊，其中四篇（80.0%）已发表。22名学者中有15名（68.2%）提交了在全国会议上发表的摘要。
培训项目期间同行评审发表的可行性较低，但已完成项目的会议摘要提交率较高。导师与每位学者合作有效，该项目对密西西比州下一代心血管流行病学研究人员的数量有积极贡献。
