Expanding pathways to clinical and translational research training with stackable microcredentials: A pilot study.

Introduction: The proportion of physician-investigators involved in biomedical research is shrinking even as the need for high-quality, interdisciplinary research is growing. Building the physician-investigator workforce is thus a pressing concern. Flexible, "light-weight" training modalities can help busy physician-investigators prepare for key stages of the research life cycle and personalize their learning to their own needs.

Time to act: A rubric-based approach for institutionalizing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Attacks on minoritized communities and increasing awareness of the societal causes of health disparities have combined to highlight deep systemic inequities. In response, academic health centers have prioritized justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in their strategic goals. To have a sustained impact, JEDI efforts cannot be siloed; rather, they must be woven into the fabric of our work and systematically assessed to promote meaningful outcomes and accountability.

Shut Up & Write!® builds writing self-efficacy and self-regulation in early-career researchers.

Introduction: High writing self-efficacy and self-regulation are tied to publication and grant submission. Writers with these attributes are more productive. We investigated whether participating in a Shut Up & Write!®-style intervention (SUAW) would produce statistically significant gains in writing self-efficacy and self-regulation when comparing pre-post-participation surveys.

Leading Emerging and Diverse Scientists to Success: Results from LEADS alumni.

Purpose: In 2015, the University of Pittsburgh partnered with several Minority Serving Institutions to develop the Leading Emerging and Diverse Scientists to Success (LEADS) Program. LEADS was designed to provide skills development, mentoring, and networking support to early career underrepresented faculty.

Method: LEADS included three components: skills training (e.

Evaluation of two longitudinal faculty leadership training programs: behavioral change and institutional impact.

Purpose: Building leadership skills among faculty in academic medicine is essential, yet professional development programs focused on leadership are not always attentive to the needs of faculty on diverse career pathways or at differing career stages-nor are they often rigorously assessed. Evaluations commonly focus on participant satisfaction and short-term learning but not behavior change and institutional impact, which are difficult to assess but arguably more meaningful. Given the substantial time and money invested in these programs, more rigorous evaluation is critical.

Reducing tensions and expediting manuscript submission via an authorship agreement for early-career researchers: A pilot study.

Authorship can be a source of tension on research teams, in academic/industry collaborations, and between mentors/mentees. Authorship misconduct is prevalent among biomedical researchers, and disputes about authorship can generate tensions that have the potential to disrupt professional relationships and damage careers. Early-career researchers may experience particular challenges navigating authorship both because of inexperience and power differentials; in effect, they lack the language and confidence to have these conversations and may feel unwilling to challenge the status quo.

Assessing the application of human-centered design to translational research.

Introduction: Human-centered design (HCD) training offers the potential to improve both team processes and products. However, the use of HCD to improve the quality of team science is a relatively recent application, and its benefits and challenges have not been rigorously evaluated. We conducted a qualitative study with health sciences researchers trained in HCD methods.

Delivering What We PROMISED: Outcomes of a Coaching and Leadership Fellowship for Mentors of Underrepresented Mentees.

Research demonstrates that mentorship can significantly improve career success, career satisfaction, and persistence for underrepresented (UR) minority faculty. However, many UR faculty members do not receive the mentorship they need, nor do mentors always possess the range of skills required to guide UR mentees through the unique challenges they face. We developed a 1-year fellowship training program, PROMISED, designed to help mentors promote career self-authorship and leadership among their UR mentees.

Authorship stories panel discussion: Fostering ethical authorship by cultivating a growth mindset.

Because peer review publication is essential for academic advancement across scientific fields, when authorship is wrongly attributed the consequences can be profound, particularly for junior researchers who are still establishing their professional norms and scientific reputations. Professional societies have published guidelines for authorship, yet authorship dilemmas frequently arise and have harmful consequences for scientific careers. Researchers have noted the complexities of authorship and called for new mechanisms to foster more ethical research cultures within institutions.

Developing a team science workshop for early-career investigators.

Introduction: High impact biomedical research is increasingly conducted by large, transdisciplinary, multisite teams in an increasingly collaborative environment. Thriving in this environment requires robust teamwork skills, which are not acquired automatically in the course of traditional scientific education. Team science skills training does exist, but most is directed at clinical care teams, not research teams, and little is focused on the specific training needs of early-career investigators, whose early team leadership experiences may shape their career trajectories positively or negatively.

Sowing the "CEED"s of a more diverse biomedical workforce: The Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity (CEED) program at the University of Pittsburgh.

Purpose: The need to diversify the biomedical research workforce is well documented. The importance of fostering the careers of fledgling underrepresented background (URB) biomedical researchers is evident in light of the national and local scarcity of URB scientists in biomedical research. The Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity (CEED) program at the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Clinical Research Education (ICRE) was designed to promote career success and help seal the "leaky pipeline" for URB researchers.

The teams of early-career investigators: A qualitative pilot study.

Early team experiences can influence the professional trajectories of early-career investigators profoundly, yet they remain underexplored in the team science literature, which has focused primarily on large, multisite teams led by established researchers. To better understand the unique challenges of teams led by early-career investigators, we conducted a qualitative pilot study. Interviews were conducted with the principal investigator and members of 5 teams led by KL2 and K12 scholars at the University of Pittsburgh.

Assessing an assessment: The review and redesign of a competency-based mid-degree evaluation.

Introduction: Little has been published about competency-based education in academic medicine, in particular how competencies are or should be assessed. This paper re-examines a competency-based assessment for M.S.

Developing a Training Program to Diversify the Biomedical Research Workforce.

The National Institutes of Health has made considerable investments to diversify the biomedical research workforce. Towards this goal, the authors partnered with representatives from several minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to develop training for the next generation of researchers. To ensure the most effective training program, the authors conducted a needs assessment with junior and senior investigators from the partnering MSIs.

A Multi-Pronged Approach to Diversifying the Workforce.

The biomedical workforce continues to lack diversity, despite growing evidence demonstrating the advantages of diverse teams in workplaces for creativity and innovation. At the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Clinical Research Education, we have taken a multi-pronged, collaborative approach to enhance the diversity of our trainees and scholars. We started by implementing a program for postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty, the Career Education and Enhancement for Health Care Research Diversity (CEED) program.