A Mentoring and Skills Development Training Program in One Health

Project Summary The goal of the Mentoring and Skills Development Training Program in One Environmental Health Toxicology (MSDT-OEHT) dovetails with NIGMS R25 IPERT objectives to enhance workforce training in an area of unmet biomedical need. Environmental exposures have a negative impact on human and animal health and One Environmental Health Toxicology (OEHT) is an emerging field of converging biomedical research at the interface of Toxicology and One Health (OH). The premise of OH is that common mechanisms can impact the health of humans and animals. OH research is dominated by infectious disease experts working on zoonotic and emerging pathogens but toxicology is an underrepresented discipline in OH research. There is a need to bridge clinical skills with toxicology knowledge and practice especially in relation to impacts of environmental exposures on affected communities. A critical gap in traditional toxicology training programs is a lack a focus on OH, producing toxicologists who work in silos on narrow topics. An unmet need is toxicologists and clinicians equipped with knowledge and research skill sets suitable for transdisciplinary multisectoral transformative OEHT research in human and animal populations. Yet, the environment has a major impact on both human and health and disease. The long-term objective of MSDT-OEHT is to produce a cadre of biomedical and clinical scientists trained and engaged in OEHT research. MSDT-OEHT is a yr long national mentoring and skills development training program targeting 2 critical career stages 1) STEM undergraduates and 2) early career researchers. At these stages decisions about career path are made, and often OEHT is not considered. The MSDT-OEHT program is delivered by a consortium of institutions contributing to national prominence. The program will achieve its goals through a unique curriculum and by bringing together biomedical scientists from different disciplines and career trajectories. Funding through this program will be used to generate e-modules and case studies on the fundamentals of OEHT to be delivered through an already operable web based system. We will also include a yr long mentoring program for 100 STEM undergraduate students interested in OEHT during the life of the grant, and to develop and deliver a professional skills development and mentoring program for early career scientists with interest in OEHT. The goal for the early career researchers is to increase their competitiveness for funding and skills in OEHT, including community engaged research. The program is nationwide and open to all, but participants from marginalized and vulnerable communities, most impacted by environmental toxicants, will be prioritized. MSDT-OEHT content will be freely accessible globally to anyone with a handheld device or computer connected to the internet, expanding the impact of the program. The goal is to increase the number of biomedical research scientists with toxicology knowledge to advance transformative transdisciplinary research on the impact of the environment on human and animal health.