Project Summary (2020-2025)

The Research Experience and Training Coordination Core (RETCC) of the OSU SRP will integrate with all other components of the Center to provide trainees with the intensive multidisciplinary training and professional development necessary to support the research, research translation, and community engagement goals of the Center. RETCC will achieve these objectives in three Specific Aims: 1) Recruit a diverse cohort of trainees to the OSU Superfund Program; 2) Prepare a skilled workforce with the core competencies and multidisciplinary experience necessary to solve the complex issues associated with PAH mixtures; and 3) Monitor, evaluate and report on individual trainee performance and the overall success of the program. The centerpiece of this training program is the implementation of Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for pre- and postdoctoral trainees. IDPs provide the framework for an on-going evaluation that identifies professional development and experiential training needs in the context of required core competencies and personalized short- and long-term education and career goals. RETCC leadership, together with the Research Project and Core leaders, will help trainees to develop their IDPs, articulate goals, identify and engage training opportunities, and assess progress. Trainee IDPs will emphasize cross-training in complimentary disciplines across the spectrum of superfund-related biomedical and environmental science and engineering research. RETCC leadership will engage the Research Project and Core PI’s and a diverse cohort of stakeholders and collaborators to ensure the availability of a wide-ranging selection of state-of-the-art training activities including transdisciplinary coursework, seminars, workshops, journal clubs, and experiential training and professional development modules. The RETCC will promote interdisciplinary training and professional development by supporting new externships and collaborative pilot projects. Individual IDPs will require trainees to participate in activities initiated by the CEC, RTC and DMAC, to engage in leadership training and opportunities, and to deliver presentations at local, regional and national conferences. RETCC leadership will coordinate, track (using NIH CareerTrac), and evaluate trainee performance and the overall success of the program. The RETCC will communicate trainee and Core activities and achievements with the Center and the SRP. The impacts of this training program will manifest in the achievement of current Center goals and in the on-going and future contributions of a cohort of environmental health scientists who solve complex, real-world environmental problems, especially those associated with Superfund sites.