Abstract
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) mandates that its Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) and Institutional Development Award Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) institute formal mentoring programs to promote the core program objective of junior investigator development. Despite this NIGMS requirement, and the many career-related benefits associated with mentoring, few tools exist for purposes of rigorously evaluating COBRE and INBRE mentoring programs. The purpose of this project was to develop a mentoring assessment tool to aid in the evaluation of COBRE and INBRE mentoring programs. In study 1, a list of items comprising the tool was created via a multiphase item generation process based on input received from subject matter experts within the Cognitive and Neurobiological Approaches to Plasticity Center. In study 2, feedback about this tool was solicited from 78 grant directors, mentees, and mentors representing 21 unique COBRE programs and 8 unique INBRE programs from across the United States. The results provide initial evidence that this tool possesses suitable psychometric properties, is a flexible instrument with many potential uses, and represents a valuable resource for helping evaluate COBRE and INBRE mentoring programs. Having a tool for evaluating mentoring can help promote the grant success and career development of junior investigators in COBRE and INBRE programs and help program directors develop more sustainable research centers.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 626-633 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Advances in Physiology Education |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2021 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The IDeA program was established by a Congressional mandate in 1993 to increase funding in states that were historically underfunded by NIH. The program was initially administered by the National Center for Research Resources, but shifted to NIGMS in 2012. The overarching goal of the IDeA program is to develop research capacity in the biomedical sciences through funding of research infrastructure and development of junior investigators. The COBRE mechanism is the largest active funding outlet within the IDeA program with 137 active centers ($235.2 M total; Ref. 19). COBRE centers can be competitively renewed for up to three successive 5-yr cycles of funding. Phase I awards focus on establishing new thematic research centers, Phase II awards further develop the centers, and Phase III awards are designed to prepare centers for independence. In Phases I and II, there are typically two to five junior investigator-led primary projects as well as multiple pilot grants, whereas Phase III consists primarily of pilot grants. Each junior-investigator grant is required to be supported by at least one mentor. The second largest funding mechanism in the IDeA program supports the INBRE awards. There are 24 currently active INBRE centers ($83.3 M total; Ref. 19). The INBRE awards are state-wide grants that are intended to foster research through coordinating and sharing resources and expertise to support faculty at research and primarily undergraduate institutions. The INBRE awards support developmental research projects, typically led by junior investigators. These grants also require science mentors. COBRE and INBRE grants may also support cores that have a focus on mentoring such as grant writing cores.
Funding Information:
The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) requires its 1) Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) and 2) IDeA (Institutional Development Award) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) to institute formal mentoring programs as a part of the mission of developing junior investigators. The COBRE and INBRE centers are funded under the IDeA program, which focuses on increasing the competitiveness of junior investigators in IDeA-eligible states. The IDeA program aims to build research capacity in states that historically have had low levels of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It supports faculty development and infrastructure improvements across a wide range of biomedical research fields including preclinical, clinical, and translational research. Given the focus on junior investigator development, mentoring is a critical component to COBRE/INBRE grant success. In addition, mentoring is associated with numerous career-related benefits for both mentees and mentors alike (e.g., Refs. 1, 2).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. the American Physiological Society. All Rights Reserved.
Keywords
- mentoring
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences
- NIGMS
- program evaluation
- scale development