Guest post from Megan McCall, who works at Winship Cancer Institute. Thanks Megan!

On a Thursday afternoon this past semester, a diverse group of 50 students were listening to a lecture on the art of storytelling by Eladio Abreu, a lecturer in the Biology department. This was an unusual topic for these students, but they sat enrapt, not distracted by cell phones or laptops.

Eladio Abreu, PhD

The weekly seminar was part of the Emory Initiative to Maximize Student Development (IMSD) program, aimed at the professional development of undergraduate and graduate students in STEM fields. What sets this program apart is its commitment to increase diversity in the biological, biomedical and behavioral sciences by nurturing students who may be underrepresented in these fields. IMSD’s associate director Amanda James says the program includes some of Emory’s strongest students.

The two-year, NIH-funded research program has three main goals: preparing undergraduate students for doctoral programs in STEM fields, nurturing graduate students during their matriculation into Emory’s Ph.D. programs and increasing diversity through mentoring. They accomplish these goals by connecting undergraduates and graduates through mentorship, seminars, and career coaching, says Keith Wilkinson, IMSD director and vice-chair of the Department of Biochemistry.

(from left) Lina Jowhar, Max Cornely, Chayla Vazquez, and Jamie Guillen at an Initiative to Maximize Student development meeting.

This meeting included updates from students on their summer research plans. Answers ranged from epidemiology research with a children’s hospital in Philadelphia, to influenza research at Johns Hopkins. In addition to weekly seminars, IMSD offers classes aimed at increasing success post-graduation, workshops for career development, medical assistant programs, and pathways to funded research, a rare commodity for undergraduates. Students who can’t do funded research may use resources that IMSD offers to find other opportunities.

Lina Jowhar is an undergraduate who started the program in her third year at Emory. She is engaged in research on cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder of the lungs, and she values the weekly meetings, particularly Abreu’s lecture on the art of storytelling. “I love his interactive teaching style,” she says. “He was comfortable letting us know that he changed the examples in his PowerPoint to include Biggie and Tupac which showed me how important it is to connect with your audience.”

Like Jowhar, Jaleyah Walker who is a third-year psychology student and IMSD associate, has only good things to say about the weekly lectures. Even a lecture about the future of the pharmaceutical industry, despite not pertaining to her major, answered questions for Walker like, “Should I go into a post-doc program?” As a black, first-generation college student, these questions are important. Walker praises one of the earlier weekly seminars in which IMSD graduate students led an open forum. Walker says she appreciates having an outlet for these conversations, in which students address topics that may bring feelings of vulnerability.

The program focuses heavily on mentorship and relationships between the students and program leaders, Emory faculty, and IMSD alumni. Graduate students are frequently paired with a small group of undergraduates for breakout sessions during seminars and many of them mentor their undergraduate counterparts. “Everyone who succeeds has a good mentor,” says Pat Marsteller, undergraduate director of IMSD. IMSD is dedicated to “improving mentoring cultures and nurturing talent from under-represented student groups,” says graduate director Eddie Morgan.

Amanda James, PhD

IMSD’s assistant director Amanda James has been able to build an especially strong rapport with students. For Jowhar, James has been able to help her find resources for black women and Walker was able to work in a lab with individuals who were familiar with being a first-generation college student. James strengthens her relationship with students by “finding shared experiences and opening up about her personal struggles.” Knowing how hard it is to open up to professors or programs for the fear of being seen as weak, James’ struggles allow students to let her guide them through their individual situations.

Soon, IMSD undergraduates will be starting summer internships. Some will be part of the Emory SURE program that Marsteller began 28 years ago; others will be going off-site to similar programs promoting undergraduate research like the Leadership Alliance at Brown or the Howard Hughes Medical Institute EXROP program. Wilkinson, Marsteller, and James will be focusing their attention on preparing for the new graduate fellows and planning for next year. While happy about how things are going, Wilkinson is looking ahead for expansion—he hopes to soon have a regular bus service from Atlanta University Center and other schools in the area so that more students can participate in the weekly seminars and join the research community.