Spring 2022: Clinician Investigator Trainee Association Of Canada (CITAC).

Over the past two years, physician-scientist trainees have persevered in the face of evolving challenges presented by the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Research and healthcare institutions across the country continue to feel the impacts of the public health emergency. As scientists and physicians generate evidence to inform the prevention and treatment of COVID-19, physician-scientist trainees in all disciplines have adapted to the changing conditions of their education.

Virtual Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy highlighted the opportunity to impact early STEMM students career knowledge through narrative.

Due to COVID-19 precautions, the Vanderbilt University summer biomedical undergraduate research program, the Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy (VSSA), rapidly transitioned from offering an in-person training program to a virtual seminar format. Our program typically supports undergraduate development through research and/or clinical experience, meeting with individuals pursuing postgraduate training, and providing career development advice. Evidence supports the idea that summer programs transform undergraduates by clarifying their interest in research and encouraging those who haven't previously considered graduate studies. We were interested in exploring whether a virtual, synchronous program would increase participants' scientific identity and clarify postgraduate career planning. Rather than create a virtual research exposure, our 5-week "Virtual VSSA" program aimed to simulate the casual connections that would naturally be made with post-undergraduate trainees during a traditional summer program. In seminars, presenters discussed 1) their academic journey, explaining their motivations, goals, and reasons for pursuing a career in science as well as 2) a professional story that illustrated their training. Seminars included Vanderbilt University and Medical School faculty, M.D., MD/Ph.D., as well as Ph.D. students from diverse scientific and personal backgrounds. In addition, weekly informational sessions provided an overview of the nature of each degree program along with admissions advice. Through pre-and post-program surveys, we found that students who registered for this experience already strongly identified with the STEMM community (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine). However, participation in the Virtual VSSA increased their sense of belonging. We also uncovered a gap in participants' understanding of postgraduate pathways prior to participation and found that our program significantly increased their self-reported understanding of postgraduate programs. It also increased their understanding of why someone would pursue a Ph.D. or Ph.D./MD versus M.D. These changes did not uniformly impact participants' planned career paths. Overall, by providing personal, tangible stories of M.D., MD/Ph.D., and Ph.D. training, the Virtual VSSA program offered seminars that positively impacted students' sense of belonging with and connection to the STEMM disciplines.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Cardiovascular Science: Anticipating Problems and Potential Solutions: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had worldwide repercussions for health care and research. In spring 2020, most non-COVID-19 research was halted, hindering research across the spectrum from laboratory-based experimental science to clinical research. Through the second half of 2020 and the first half of 2021, biomedical research, including cardiovascular science, only gradually restarted, with many restrictions on onsite activities, limited clinical research participation, and the challenges associated with working from home and caregiver responsibilities. Compounding these impediments, much of the global biomedical research infrastructure was redirected toward vaccine testing and deployment. This redirection of supply chains, personnel, and equipment has additionally hampered restoration of normal research activity. Transition to virtual interactions offset some of these limitations but did not adequately replace the need for scientific exchange and collaboration. Here, we outline key steps to reinvigorate biomedical research, including a call for increased support from the National Institutes of Health. We also call on academic institutions, publishers, reviewers, and supervisors to consider the impact of COVID-19 when assessing productivity, recognizing that the pandemic did not affect all equally. We identify trainees and junior investigators, especially those with caregiving roles, as most at risk of being lost from the biomedical workforce and identify steps to reduce the loss of these key investigators. Although the global pandemic highlighted the power of biomedical science to define, treat, and protect against threats to human health, significant investment in the biomedical workforce is required to maintain and promote well-being.

Nurturing diversity and inclusion in AI in Biomedicine through a virtual summer program for high school students.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the power to improve our lives through a wide variety of applications, many of which fall into the healthcare space; however, a lack of diversity is contributing to limitations in how broadly AI can help people. The UCSF AI4ALL program was established in 2019 to address this issue by targeting high school students from underrepresented backgrounds in AI, giving them a chance to learn about AI with a focus on biomedicine, and promoting diversity and inclusion. In 2020, the UCSF AI4ALL three-week program was held entirely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, students participated virtually to gain experience with AI, interact with diverse role models in AI, and learn about advancing health through AI. Specifically, they attended lectures in coding and AI, received an in-depth research experience through hands-on projects exploring COVID-19, and engaged in mentoring and personal development sessions with faculty, researchers, industry professionals, and undergraduate and graduate students, many of whom were women and from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds. At the conclusion of the program, the students presented the results of their research projects at the final symposium. Comparison of pre- and post-program survey responses from students demonstrated that after the program, significantly more students were familiar with how to work with data and to evaluate and apply machine learning algorithms. There were also nominally significant increases in the students' knowing people in AI from historically underrepresented groups, feeling confident in discussing AI, and being aware of careers in AI. We found that we were able to engage young students in AI via our online training program and nurture greater diversity in AI. This work can guide AI training programs aspiring to engage and educate students entirely online, and motivate people in AI to strive towards increasing diversity and inclusion in this field.

Virtual Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy highlighted the opportunity to impact early STEMM students career knowledge through narrative.

Due to COVID-19 precautions, the Vanderbilt University summer biomedical undergraduate research program, the Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy (VSSA), rapidly transitioned from offering an in-person training program to a virtual seminar format. Our program typically supports undergraduate development through research and/or clinical experience, meeting with individuals pursuing postgraduate training, and providing career development advice. Evidence supports the idea that summer programs transform undergraduates by clarifying their interest in research and encouraging those who haven't previously considered graduate studies. We were interested in exploring whether a virtual, synchronous program would increase participants' scientific identity and clarify postgraduate career planning. Rather than create a virtual research exposure, our 5-week "Virtual VSSA" program aimed to simulate the casual connections that would naturally be made with post-undergraduate trainees during a traditional summer program. In seminars, presenters discussed 1) their academic journey, explaining their motivations, goals, and reasons for pursuing a career in science as well as 2) a professional story that illustrated their training. Seminars included Vanderbilt University and Medical School faculty, M.D., MD/Ph.D., as well as Ph.D. students from diverse scientific and personal backgrounds. In addition, weekly informational sessions provided an overview of the nature of each degree program along with admissions advice. Through pre-and post-program surveys, we found that students who registered for this experience already strongly identified with the STEMM community (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine). However, participation in the Virtual VSSA increased their sense of belonging. We also uncovered a gap in participants' understanding of postgraduate pathways prior to participation and found that our program significantly increased their self-reported understanding of postgraduate programs. It also increased their understanding of why someone would pursue a Ph.D. or Ph.D./MD versus M.D. These changes did not uniformly impact participants' planned career paths. Overall, by providing personal, tangible stories of M.D., MD/Ph.D., and Ph.D. training, the Virtual VSSA program offered seminars that positively impacted students' sense of belonging with and connection to the STEMM disciplines.

Biomedical omics: first insights of a new MSc degree of the University of Milan.

The advent of technologies allowing the global analysis of biological phenomena, referred to as "omics" (genomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, microbiomics, radiomics, and radiogenomics), has revolutionized the study of human diseases and traced the path for quantitative personalized medicine. The newly inaugurated Master of Science Program in Biomedical Omics of the University of Milan, Italy, aims at addressing the unmet need to create professionals with a broad understanding of omics disciplines. The course is structured over 2 years and admits students with a bachelor's degree in biotechnology, biology, chemistry, or pharmaceutical sciences. All teaching activities are fully held in English. A total of nine students enrolled in the first academic year and attended the courses of radiomics, genomics and epigenomics, proteomics, and high-throughput screenings, and their feedback was evaluated by means of an online questionnaire. Faculty with different backgrounds were recruited according to the subject. Due to restrictions imposed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, laboratory activities were temporarily suspended, while lectures, journal clubs, and examinations were mainly held online. After the end of the first semester, despite the difficulties brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the course overall met the expectations of the students, specifically regarding teaching effectiveness, interpersonal interactions with the lecturers, and courses organization. Future efforts will be undertaken to better calibrate the overall workload of the course and to implement the most relevant suggestions from the students together with omics science evolution in order to guarantee state-of-the-art omics teaching and to prepare future omics specialists.

The medical student's guide to pathology residency, fellowships, and careers.

Recent studies have shown that relatively few MD, DO, and underrepresented in medicine (URM) students and physicians are matching into pathology residency in the United States (US). In the 2021 Main Residency Match, just 33.6% of filled pathology residency positions were taken by senior year students at US allopathic medical schools. This has been attributed to the fact that pathology is not a required rotation in most US medical schools, pathology is often taught in an integrated curriculum in the US where is does not stand out as a distinct field, and because the COVID-19 pandemic led to a suspension of in-person pathology rotations and electives. Ultimately, many US medical students fail to consider pathology as a career pathway. The objective of this article is to provide medical students with basic information, in the form of frequently asked questions (FAQs), about pathology training and career opportunities. This was accomplished by forming a team of MD and DO pathology attendings, pathology trainees, and a medical student from multiple institutions to create a pathology guide for medical students. This guide includes information about post-sophomore fellowships, 5 major pathology residency tracks, more than 20 fellowship pathways, and allopathic and osteopathic board examinations. This guide also contains photographs and descriptions of major pathology sub-specialties, including the daily and on-call duties and responsibilities of pathology residents. The exciting future of pathology is also discussed. This guide supports the agenda of the College of American Pathologists' (CAP) Pathologist Pipeline Initiative to improve student recruitment into pathology.

Potential Impact of COVID-19 Disruptions on the Next Generation of Vision Scientists.

Importance: Emerging vision scientists who have yet to be awarded their first independent funding may have their research careers disproportionately affected by early COVID-19-related disruptions. In September 2020, the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research convened a panel of 22 such scientists (nominated by their academic institutions) to communicate to the US Congress about the importance of vision research. As part of the effort, interviews were conducted with scientists about the effect of the pandemic on their research. Observations: Qualitative areas of adverse consequences from the early months of COVID-19 disruptions included striking interruptions of patient-based research, limits on other types of clinical research, loss of research time for scientists with young children (especially women), challenges with animal colonies and cell cultures, impediments to research collaborations, and loss of training time. Conclusions and Relevance: The early months during the COVID-19 pandemic increased career stress on many early-stage investigators in the vision field and delayed (and may potentially derail) their ability to attract their first independent research funding grant. As a result, federal and private granting agencies may need to take these factors into account to retain talented, early-stage vision researchers.

Reimagining laboratory-based immunology education in the time of COVID-19.

The pandemic has brought challenges to teaching lab and research skills. Here Nigel Francis and colleagues explore the diverse approaches taken to replace lab-based immunology teaching, explain how networks of educators have driven this innovation and discuss the importance of retaining best practice into the future.

Perspectives from the Society for Pediatric Research: advice on sustaining science and mentoring during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic will leave an indelible mark on the careers of current medical trainees. Given the disruptions to medical education, economic impact on institutions, and the uncertainties around future job prospects, trainees are facing unprecedented challenges. This situation is especially concerning for futures of pediatric physician-scientist trainees, where concerns regarding maintaining the pipeline were well documented prior to the emergence of COVID-19. In this Perspectives article, we leverage the unique expertise of our workgroup to address concerns of physician-scientist trainees and to provide suggestions on how to navigate career trajectories in the post-COVID-19 era. We identified and addressed four major areas of concern: lack of in-person conferences and the associated decrease access to mentors and networking activities, decreased academic productivity, diminished job prospects, and mental health challenges. We also suggest actions for trainees, mentors and educational leaders, and institutions to help support trainees during the pandemic, with a goal of maintaining the pediatric physician-scientist pipeline.

The impact of teaching experimental research on-line: Research-informed teaching and COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: As part of the BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Radiography programme students learn and undertake research relevant to their development as first post radiographers (dose optimisation and image quality) within the Research-Informed Teaching experience (RiTe). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the delivery of RiTe to our year 2 students was moved to an online format using Microsoft Teams and Blackboard Collaborate and focused on a key area of current practice - COVID-19 and chest X-ray imaging. Within RiTe students are placed into collaborative enquiry-based learning (CEBL) groups to share tasks, but to also support and learn from one another. METHODS: An online survey was used to explore the year 2 student cohort task value and self-efficacy of this online version of RiTe. RESULTS: A 73% (32/44) response rate was achieved. Students found the online version of RiTe to be a positive learning and development experience. There was strong agreement that they not only found it relevant to their area of practice (task-value), but also strongly agreed that they understood and could master the skills taught (self-efficacy). CONCLUSION: This online version of RiTe was effectively structured to help scaffold student learning and development of research data analysis skills despite the lack of face-to-face teaching. The students also valued the topic area (COVID-19 and chest X-ray imaging). A blended learning approach with RiTe will be used next year with a combination of collaborative online teaching and physical data collection and analysis in the university-based X-ray imaging laboratory. Further evaluation and data collection will also be undertaken. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: University-based empirical work in groups to learn about research can be replaced by an online mechanism whilst still maintaining task-value and acceptable self-efficacy.

Transitioning undergraduate research from wet lab to the virtual in the wake of a pandemic.

The COVID-19 outbreak has shut down universities, and teaching faculty have moved to online classrooms to address students. This change has been supported by numerous online teaching tools and development of virtual classrooms. Undergraduate research programs in the sciences and biochemistry/molecular biology teaching labs, however, are affected by this change due to inaccessibility to laboratories. This communication outlines three concepts to engage undergraduate students who are involved in research: (a) remote data analysis, (b) literature review and science writing, and (c) science journal clubs.

Integrative illustration for coronavirus outreach.

Two illustrations integrate current knowledge about severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronaviruses and their life cycle. They have been widely used in education and outreach through free distribution as part of a coronavirus-related resource at Protein Data Bank (PDB)-101, the education portal of the RCSB PDB. Scientific sources for creation of the illustrations and examples of dissemination and response are presented.