Networking Core

PROJECT SUMMARY: NETWORK CORE Professional advancement of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows is critical to assure a sustained research workforce and to inspire a new generation of trainees. Too often, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are isolated, unaware of opportunities available to them and lack access to cross-disciplinary mentors.

These factors could contribute to the intertwined challenges in recruitment, advancement and retention of trainees. The 6 public and private academic institutions that compose the interdisciplinary Chicago Kidney Urology Hematology network FOR city-Wide reseArch tRaining and career Development (Chicago KUH

FORWARD) are deeply committed to developing a city-wide environment encompassing a continuum of education, training and career development, within which aspiring researchers have access to ideas, successful role models, peer trainees, scientific information, and methodological support. The primary goal of

the Network Core is to foster a vibrant community, in which trainees will feel valued, supported and connected and will be eager to pay it forward through interactions with high school, college and medical students. Strategies to accomplish the Core's objectives include cultivation of a dynamic community of trainees who will

develop kinship with peers, alumni and mentors through professional and social interactions; creation of personal support teams of peers and near-peers to guide career development; maintenance of continuous interactions through electronic platforms; and contribution to high school, college and medical student outreach

activities. The Specific Aims of the Core are: 1) To cultivate an engaged, supportive and inclusive city-wide KUH community by connecting trainees professionally and socially with peers, research training alumni and mentors; 2) To promote creation of support teams for career guidance by facilitating small group sessions for

peer and near-peer mentoring and coaching; 3) To enhance connectivity, collaboration and career development by creating an online portal for sustained trainee interaction; 4) To attract new talent to KUH research by exposing participants of existing outreach programs to Chicago KUH FORWARD trainees. The

Network Core will be co-led by Drs. William Schnaper and Luisa Iruela-Arispe, whose collective experiences in mentoring trainees will serve them well in overseeing the implementation, management and evaluation of the Specific Aims. Drs. Schnaper and Iruela-Arispe will be assisted by experts in peer mentoring and coaching and

leaders of high school, college and medical schools outreach programs. Continuous cycles of evaluations and refinement of strategic approaches will ensure that Core activities are well integrated across all institutions, in line with overall vision and mission of Chicago KUH FORWARD and complement the goals of the

Professional Development and Training Cores. In synergizing with existing KUH events in Chicago and robust outreach programs, the Network Core will foster a true community of trainees, who in addition to receiving expert cross-disciplinary mentorship, constantly learn from each other and inspire the next generation.