Tuberculosis Research and Mentorship Program (TB RAMP II)

About This Grant

Summary/Abstract: Since 2020, the NIAID R25-funded TB Research And Mentorship Program (TB RAMP) demonstrated that a dedicated robust scientific research and mentoring program in TB positions early stage investigators (ESIs) to pursue innovative research and launch successful careers as independent investigators, and adds significant value to the larger research community at UCSF and UC Berkeley. In TB RAMP II, we retain core elements of TB RAMP and further innovate the didactic, research, and mentoring offerings applied to address TB. In TB RAMP II scientific core competencies imperative to working in TB are paired with research skill-building and an innovative career development program that includes critical activities of importance for this ESI career stage, including grant-writing, presentation practice, networking opportunities. TB RAMP II provides ESIs with tangible scientific and academic skills to enhance their own research and compete successfully for pilot awards and NIH grants, while also developing a strong network of ESIs and mentors conducting research aligned with NIAID’s strategic mission, assuring sustained success of program participants. Specific Aim 1: TB RAMP Interactive Learning Series. These interactive didactic seminars and modules bring together core UCSF and UC Berkeley mentors with an array of TB expertise including basic scientists, clinical researchers, epidemiologists, clinical trialists to focus on the core scientific concepts and methodologies of TB research and discovery. TB RAMP scholars will meet twice a month for scientific seminars with leading experts in TB research and for professional development focused on critical academic areas such as career advancement, publishing, and priority setting. We enhance these offerings with two new innovative didactic modules: 1) ‘Communicating Research Impact,’ focused on effective communication strategies for disseminating research findings; and 2) ‘Emerging Research Technologies’ covering innovative tools like AI and big data analytics to accelerate TB research. Specific Aim 2: Grant Writing and Pilot Awards. The goals are to: 1) provide rigorous, individual training on grant writing, 2) train on grant reviews including standing up mock study sections, 3) offer rigorously peer-reviewed seed funding opportunities. Specific Aim 3: Enhanced Mentoring Activities. TB RAMP II will provide TB-specific, high- quality, sustained mentoring for all scholars. In addition to their research mentor, scholars will have annual career mentoring meetings with the Program Directors. Monthly, scholars will participate in Works in Progress (WIP) sessions to present their research and actively provide peer mentoring as a cohort and with TB RAMP faculty. Monthly, ‘Bay Area TB Science’ (BATS) meetings are offered where scholars present to a wider academic and industry audience. We host a day-long BATS Symposium (September) and World TB Day event (March) where scholars present and network. In TB RAMP II we enhance these offerings with two new mentoring modules: 1) ‘The Mentoring Academy’ for TB RAMP faculty and alumni, to strengthen the pipeline of mentors; and 2) ‘Building Equitable Research Partnerships’ for the TB RAMP community to examine best collaborative research practices.