The Minnesota IRACDA Program

PROJECT SUMMARY Although the USA has seen a significant increase in the number of PhD degrees in the biomedical sciences earned by scientists from underrepresented and racially minoritized (URM) backgrounds, there has not been a corresponding increase in the representation of URM faculty in the biomedical professoriate. To address this disparity in the state of Minnesota and more broadly, the University of Minnesota formulated and implemented the Minnesota IRACDA Program. The Minnesota IRACDA Program is a collaboration between the University of Minnesota and the nearby community colleges of Normandale Community College and North Hennepin Community College, which predominantly serve students from minority and low-income urban populations. The Minnesota IRACDA Program provides a diverse cohort of recent PhD scholars with rigorous scientific research training, instruction, mentoring, experience in teaching, and career development guidance. The long-term goal of the Minnesota IRACDA Program is to develop and implement successful and creative strategies to promote and facilitate the transition of talented postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds into independent faculty careers in biomedical research and education. The overall objectives of the Minnesota IRACDA Program are to: (1) Recruit postdoctoral scholars from backgrounds that have been historically excluded from STEM research and education and provide them with strong multitiered mentoring in cutting-edge biomedical research. (2) Provide the postdoctoral scholars with pedagogical training in modern teaching techniques that incorporate diverse populations, and mentored practice in evidence-based teaching at the undergraduate level at two teaching-intensive institutions that predominantly serve students from minority and low-income urban populations—Normandale Community College and North Hennepin Community College. (3) Equip postdoctoral scholars with a multitude of career and professional development opportunities and programs including, participation in workshops that address scientific communication, publication, job searches, grant writing, professional advancement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in biomedical research. (4) Provide URM undergraduates from the teaching-intensive partner institutions with paid authentic research opportunities at the University of Minnesota in which they are mentored by the postdoctoral scholars. In the first funding period, the Minnesota IRACDA Program met or exceeded all key benchmarks: (i) Nearly 40% of the IRACDA scholars recruited to the program were from URM backgrounds. (ii) IRACDA scholars were successful in career progression. Of the six scholars who completed training, four moved on to tenure-track Assistant Professor or Lecturer positions. (iii) URM undergraduate students participated in authentic research under the mentorship of IRACDA scholars and most successfully transferred to four-year degree programs. We are seeking funding to support six IRACDA postdoctoral scholars per year when the program is fully populated.