NRMN is Virtually Everywhere

The National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) is offering new courses on its MyNRMN platform to help mentors and mentees through the application process for graduate school or summer research experiences.

From guides on letters of recommendations to seeking financial support, this suite of eight short courses helps participants present the best version of themselves to graduate institutions and other programs. The courses are fully captioned and all feature videos elucidating the complex graduate admission process.

The series was created by a broad coalition of authors and developed by the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) program at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). NRMN curates quality course content and will continue in the future.

NRMN has long offered a number of courses centered around mentoring, such as its unconscious bias course with almost 4,500 enrollees.

“We are now excited to offer resources for those looking to enter graduate school or summer internships,” said Roda Cotanay, NRMN Resource Center program manager.

“We believe that by offering these mini courses, we will be able to increase the number of successful scientists entering the field of biomedical research by equipping them with the basic knowledge that they need to get started."

Any mentor, mentee or member can access this series, numbered and marked with a red banner, under “courses” on MyNRMN.

For more information, email Roda Cotanay at roda.cotanay@unthsc.edu.

Prepping for the Fall Semester with MyNRMN

It’s the middle of summer, but the fall semester is just around the corner—are you ready for another academic year? Whether you’re an undergrad or a PhD student, you can find the mentoring tools you need for the upcoming school year on MyNRMN. Take a peek at some of the resources you can harness.

MyGroups—So you can connect with others ahead of the semester and discuss various topics, from internships to areas of research and more.

Resume—So you can update any completed summer research programs or internships.

MyMentor—So you can get ahead of the game and find a mentor to help support you this coming semester—or to give back and help a mentee in need.

MyCourses—So you can learn how to prepare for graduate school applications with our new mini courses—it’s never too early to start preparing.

Ready to get a head start on preparing for the fall semester? Visit MyNRMN today.

Welcome Roda Cotanay

We would like to welcome Roda Cotanay to the NRMN team as our new Program Manager. Born and raised in the Philippines, Roda earned her master’s in development communications from the University of the Philippines and came to the U.S. in 2016.

She has spent her career working with higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations. She loves organization, cooking for others, and singing karaoke.

“This is my passion. I got to where I am today because of the mentors who have supported me throughout my career. I’m passionate about connecting mentees with mentors who will help give them the direction, motivation, and encouragement they need to pursue their dream careers,” says Roda.

MyMentor Allows You to

Find a partner based on our matching algorithm, your desired search criteria, or let us find a mentoring partner for you

Explore a long-term mentoring connection, facilitated by guided prompts

Create and work toward accomplishing your personal goals

Check out the latest happenings in our community!

Farewell conference features Institute for Health Disparities program

A variety of biomedical scientists descended upon Los Angeles last month, as well as scores more participating from home, for what would be the final National Institutes of Health Diversity Program Consortium annual conference. The theme was appropriately titled “Ending Well Together: Moving the Effort of the DPC Forward.” The event both celebrated the efforts and accomplishments of its grantees and focused on next steps for the programs under the DPC umbrella.

ABRCMS 2023

Join a vibrant community of the brightest minds in STEM at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS), taking place, November 15-18 in Phoenix, Arizona. Through cutting-edge scientific sessions in 12 scientific disciplines and interactive professional development sessions, covering topics like career pathways, curriculum development and more, ABRCMS delivers timely and relevant content for students and non-students in STEM fields to learn, connect and share. Get involved, and join us:

Become a Judge – deadline for travel award Aug. 22
Become a Reviewer—deadline to sign up Aug. 31
Student Abstract Submission – deadline Sept. 8 for abstracts. Travel awards are available.

As one of the largest communities for underrepresented minorities in STEM, ABRCMS is the go-to conference for scientific and professional development. Learn more at https://abrcms.org.

A new leadership and career development program and various funding opportunities—these programs can help you advance your

journey in the STEMM fields.

Participate in the Communicating Across Difference Research Study!

The NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program Office just announced their latest Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs). ECHO is an extramurally funded program maintained within the Office of the Director at the NIH, with the mission to enhance the health of children for generations to come.

The ECHO Program consists of 69 existing and ongoing observational studies that together form the ECHO Cohort, as well as a pediatric clinical trials network. Research conducted through ECHO focuses on five key pediatric outcomes: pre-, peri- and postnatal outcomes; upper and lower airway health; obesity; neurodevelopment; and positive health, such as a sense of wellbeing.

RFA-OD-23-019: The goal of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship (F32) is to provide opportunities for postdoctoral fellows to study child health outcomes through the secondary analyses of ECHO’s large longitudinal data sets within the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development Data and Specimen Hub (DASH) repository.

RFA-OD-23-020: The goal of the Dissertation Grant (R36) is to support doctoral candidates studying applicable areas of child health for the completion of their doctoral dissertation research project. The awards resulting from this funding opportunity will provide students working on dissertations the opportunity to access the ECHO data within the DASH repository.

ECHO’s DASH data set integrates deidentified longitudinal data from more than 41,000 participants across the U.S.

Available deidentified data include

Demographic information including race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and education
Early development data including growth, milestones, physical activity, and sleep
Environmental exposure data including physical, chemical, psychosocial, and natural and built environments
Pregnancy and birth information including maternal diet and physical activity, maternal smoking during pregnancy, weight gain, and delivery outcomes
Data related to public health crises including surveys on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

NIH encourages applications supporting candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups as described in the Notice of NIH's Interest in Diversity (NOT-OD-20-031).

Applications are due by November 1, 2023. Letters of Intent are not required but are requested by October 1, 2023.

To learn more, click here.

UNITE Notice of Funding Opportunity

The NIH Research With Activities Related to Diversity (ReWARD) Program's overarching goal is to enhance the breadth and geographical location of research and research-related activities supported by NIH. The ReWARD program provides support for the health-related research of scientists who are making a significant contribution to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) and who have no current NIH research project grant funding.

The ReWARD program provides funding for both the scientific research and the DEIA activities of investigators. The grant will support scientific research in areas related to the programmatic interests of one or more of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) and ongoing DEIA activities focused on enhancing diversity in the biomedical research enterprise within the United States and territories.

For more information, click here.

IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) (P20 Clinical Trial Optional)

The Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program funds statewide networks of higher education and research institutions in IDeA-eligible states to build biomedical research capacity through supporting faculty research and research mentoring, student participation in research, and enhancement of institutional research infrastructure.

Apply for the Program

Optimization of Data Storage and Utilization for the Sequence Read Archive

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences announced a new notice of special interest (NOT-GM-23-015) that promotes research and development in biomedical computation and technology focused on assessing current SRA data compression and storage strategies, and developing novel SRA compression and/or low-cost formats and tools. Apply here.