RaMP: Training in the One Health Framework: Studies in Animals and Environments that Affect Human Health in West Virginia (One Health WV)

This project will establish One Health West Virginia, a network connecting research mentors in the One Health area with postbaccalaureate mentees from research-disadvantaged backgrounds. Research spans three core One Health themes: water use and quality, environmental contamination, and biological correlates of disease. West Virginia is one of the most at-risk states for infectious disease, ranks at or near the bottom in most US chronic disease categories, and currently ranks 50th nationally in population growth, with consistent population loss driven by individuals under the age of fifty.

This project will address the urgent societal need for recruitment and retention of educated younger individuals in the region by providing training, motivational opportunities, and pathways to a wide range of career pathways or graduate study in STEM fields. It will increase the pool of skilled individuals by bridging the gap between an undergraduate degree and successful STEM career for students with little or no previous research experience.

Through intentional recruitment and culturally-aware training of mentors from diverse backgrounds, this project will broaden participation in STEM fields. The training network will provide rigorous mentee training in scientific research areas around the One Health theme. It will also establish a pipeline for mentees to transition successfully into academic, corporate, non-governmental organization (NGO), and governmental employment.

The network will incorporate research groups from West Virginia University, West Virginia State University, and Marshall University. A total of 30 mentees will work with faculty mentors in full-time, 12-month positions to explore issues in the One Health theme. During the course of this program, mentees will acquire training with cutting edge scientific equipment, ethical and safe research conduct, effective experimental design, and scientific writing and communication.

They will acquire skills in laboratory, field, and data analysis techniques that are immediately applicable in the current STEM workplace (academic or otherwise). Mentee projects studying environmental pollutants and contaminants will inform effective widespread mitigation efforts, and research on insect and wildlife health will provide essential insights to global disease prevention, surveillance, and control.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.