University Lands Prestigious T32 Award for Graduate Student Training
A Historic Moment for the University of Mississippi
In a significant development for the University of Mississippi, renowned for its dedication to furthering medical and scientific research, the university has been granted a prestigious T32 award from the National Institutes of Health. The award, part of the Graduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (G-RISE), will support and train graduate students from groups underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.
The federal grant, worth $2,146,821, is to be administered over five years. This marks a transformative and historic moment for the university, with the grant expected to financially assist three doctoral students per year for three years as part of the newly introduced Diversifying Interdisciplinary Research Expertise through Community building and Training (DIRECT) program.
Faculty member at the university’s School of Pharmacy, Melissa King, acclaims the award as, “providing students with significant financial support and resources, helping to ensure the students will thrive while pursuing a doctoral degree”.
Training Future Scientists
The new DIRECT program not only aims to financially support students but also aims to develop their technical, operational, and professional skills to conduct health-related research in an ethically responsible manner. In addition, it aims to equip these students with knowledge and skills required to build a career in the healthcare sector.
The award marks multiple achievements for the Mississippi-based university, including being the first National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) T32 G-RISE in the state and the second T32 grant in the state. Furthermore, the School of Pharmacy is the only pharmacy school in the state to have received the grant.
Multidepartmental Effort
The securing of the T32 grant was largely facilitated by a team from the School of Pharmacy. However, multiple departments across campus are set to benefit from it, including Pharmacy Administration; Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery; BioMolecular Sciences; Biology; Chemistry and Biochemistry; Psychology; Public Health; Nutrition and Hospitality Management; and Health, Exercise Science and Recreation Management.
The Principal Investigators for the project, Soumyajit Majumdar, Marie Barnard, and Shawnboda Mead, have expressed excitement at the prospect of their institution producing needed health-related researchers and the contributions this will make in the key shortage areas.
Expanding the Demographic of STEM
Each selected doctoral student will receive comprehensive training and support, including scientific communication, professional and career development, and an introduction to the career fields available with a Ph.D. The program’s benefits extend to covering tuition, support towards professional development and conference travel, a stipend, health insurance, and childcare.
Marie Barnard, a professor in the School of Pharmacy administration, emphasized that the grant would be instrumental in promoting and broadening pathways to careers in STEM fields. “We have phenomenal faculty mentors who can now expand the number of students they can work with, broadening opportunities at the University of Mississippi,” she said.
The T32 G-RISE is anticipated to be a great asset both in terms of the funding it provides and the prestige associated with being a recipient of the grant. As a significant milestone in the school’s research journey, this award will help in providing crucial mentoring and support for the next generation of leaders in biomedical research.
Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the NIH under award no. T32GM144924.
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Annette Kluck, Diversifying Interdisciplinary Research Expertise through Community building and Training, Donna Strum, G-RISE, Marie Barnard, Melissa King, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Noel Wilkin, Ole Miss School of Pharmacy, Shawnboda Mead, Soumyajit Majumdar, STEM, T32 Award, University of Mississippi.