Enhancing Virology Training (ENVIT) through Summer Research

Strengthening the biomedical workforce is a priority of the US government scientific funding agencies. Consistent with our history of providing care since 1876, Meharry Medical College (MMC) has been a leader in training students from all backgrounds in basic, translational, and clinical research. Accordingly, MMC has played a vital role in training the next generation of physicians, scientists and health care professionals. Last few decades have witnessed a surge in virus associated epidemics and a key strategy to combat these evolving pathogens is to train the next generation of virologists from all backgrounds. Increasing the number of virologists is also critical to fight against deadly diseases caused by viruses such as HIV, Influenza, Ebola, and others. To address this unmet need, we propose “Enhancing Virology Training (ENVIT)” through Summer Research, to prepare and increase the number of students seeking virology-focused careers. This program will provide research experience for graduate, medical and dental students. A local, regional, and nationwide recruitment strategy will be employed to attract students. We will provide classroom teaching and hands-on training in basic virology, lectures/seminars on career development, scientific writing, communications skills and networking. Each student will work under the mentorship of a faculty mentor from MMC and/or Vanderbilt virology-focused research project. The participants will attend seminars that allow interactions with virologists and expose students to career opportunities in virology. The program will end with a one-day Virology Mini-Symposium where students will present their research. This mini symposium will feature a keynote lecture from a national/international renowned virologist. Finally, the ENVIT program will track the career path of participants to evaluate the effectiveness of the program goals and identify areas for improvement. Evaluations from research mentors and program directors will be used for the assessment. These focused research experiences and career-development activities will meaningfully increase engagement of students in virology and strengthen the biomedical workforce specifically needed to fight the existing and emerging viral pathogens.