Minutes of the NIH Academy Working Group Meeting
October 15, 1999

3:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Shannon Building Room 151

Present:

Dr. Garcia-Perez, Co-Chair

Mr. Parker, Co-Chair

Ms. Andrews, Exec.Secy.

Ms. Naomi Churchill-Earp, OEO

Dr. Kleinman

Dr. Counts

Dr. Loh

Ms. Hanning

Dr. Owens

Ms. Hedetniemi

Dr. Poodry

Mr. Horowitz

Dr. Rabson

Dr. Johnson

Dr. Ruffin

Dr. Kaplan

Dr. Yakel

Absent:

Dr. Bonifacino

Dr. Landis

Dr. Cadet

Dr. Ruffin

Dr. Fojo

Dr. Shaffer

Guests:

Dr. Donna Dean, OD

Mr. Pedro Morales, OEO

Dr. Michael Gottesman, OIR

Dr. Matthew Rechler, OIR/NIDDK

Dr. Ruth Kirschstein, OD

Ms. Jennie Titsworth, PMI with OCL/OD
  1. Minutes of the September 17 meeting: The draft minutes were approved with one modification. The agreement to have a one-day retreat for the Working Group early in 2000 had been unintentionally omitted.
  2. Subcommittees Reports: Ms. Hedetniemi reported that the Focus Groups Subcommittee expects to have a first draft of a report by approximately December 1999. A revised draft would be available to the whole NIH Academy Working Group by approximately January 2000. Dr. Garcia-Perez reported that the draft form for information collection on "Current Intramural Trainees Data and Recruitment Efforts"was presented to the intramural AOs by Ms. Janis Mullaney, OIR's Intramural Management Liaison Director, at their meeting of October 7. After additional changes on the form suggested by the IAOs and expected input from EEO Officers who will review the form, it should be ready to be forwarded to the Scientific Directors with the appropriate request for information.
  3. Remarks by Dr. Gottesman: Dr. Gottesman proposed that the NIH Academy start as a small pilot program that concentrates on a single subset of trainees, the post baccalaureate IRTAs. Specifically, a group of a maximum of 30 post-baccalaureates was agreed to. Post-baccalaureates are at the NIH for a minimum of approximately one year (10 months or longer) at a critical juncture in their career path (between receiving their Bachelor's degree and proceeding to graduate school or medical school). Therefore, there is a higher potential impact of a full-time research training experience and a health disparities curriculum on the career decisions of this subset of trainees than on others. The Working Group agreed to adopt Dr. Gottesman's proposal to launch the NIH Academy. In this context, two new subcommittees were formed from the members of existing ones. The Focus Groups Subcommittee will be the Evaluation Subcommittee, which will delineate a plan to evaluate the success of the NIH Academy pilot. The Data Subcommittee will be the Implementation Subcommittee, which will delineate and help execute a plan to implement the NIH Academy pilot.
  4. Announcements: Dr. Garcia-Perez announced that the All-Day Meeting of the NIH Academy Working Group will be on Friday, February 18, 2000.
  5. "Working Document about the NIH Academy" Draft: Discussion continued on the working document with the new perspective brought by Dr. Gottesman's proposal and agreed to by the Working Group. In addition, the following mission statement was agreed to: "To enhance research dedicated to elimination of health disparities through development of a diverse cadre of biomedical science researchers." It was proposed that the All-Day Meeting in February be dedicated to two or three of the following subjects: health disparities curriculum development, long-term recruitment/advertisement strategies, and evaluation process for the NIH Academy.

 
NIH Home Page | Search the SourceBook | Sourcebook Home Page | Table of Contents | Committees Advisory to the DDIR | NIH Academy Working Group | Comments
Revised: 12/21/99