Read more about the efforts to create inclusive workplaces in STEM fields in the spring issue of “CATALYST” magazine.
Photo: The students who are part of UMSOM’s Graduate Program In Life Sciences or UMSOP’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences began the Initiative for Maximizing Student Development program in August 2022.
Minority employees continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM) fields, according to a recent Pew Research Group study. With a $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy (UMSOP) and University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) are working to remedy that by teaming up to enhance diversity in the biomedical workforce with a new training program.
The five-year Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) program strives to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups in the doctoral programs in UMSOP’s Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences (PSC) and UMSOM’s Graduate Program In Life Sciences (GPILS).
“I am exceedingly proud of this new initiative to enhance the numbers of diverse graduate students in the sciences at the schools of pharmacy and medicine and of what it means for the future of academia and research,” said Natalie D. Eddington, PhD, FAAPS, FCP, dean and professor at UMSOP. “As the second African American to earn a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences at the School of Pharmacy, I fully support initiatives like ours that seek to break down barriers, provide access and support, and create opportunities for all students to succeed on their chosen career path.”
The IMSD program’s goal is to train a diverse pool of PhD students across the biomedical research spectrum, which is why UMSOP and UMSOM are jointly hosting the program. Students will apply for admission to the graduate programs in PSC or GPILS. A team of faculty leaders from both schools will then select students for the IMSD training program, which will take 10 students per year — five in PSC and five in GPILS.
“This grant program affords us the opportunity to create a graduate school experience that is uniquely tailored to the needs of our students, in which they know that their opinions are respected, their cultural identities and connections are valued, and their intellectual curiosities are nourished,” said Mark T. Gladwin, MD, vice president for medical affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean at UMSOM. “Cultivating this type of inclusive academic environment is among our highest strategic priorities.”
Read more about the program in the spring issue of CATALYST magazine.
You can read the Spring 2023 issue of CATALYST magazine, which highlights the work of the University's women deans; the School of Medicine’s research to fight malaria; the School of Nursing’s partnership with Enoch Pratt Library to offer health care; the Graduate School’s new MS in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Leadership; UMB’s sustainability efforts to install beehives; and much, much more!