The NIH-funded National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) was created to address the unmet need for greater diversity in the biomedical and biobehavioral research workforce. GUMSHOE is one of four professional development-training programs that is committed to increasing the number of people from diverse backgrounds successfully obtaining NIH grants.
GUMSHOE will link mentors from various disciplines who have highly successful track records in obtaining federal funding and grant writing coaches with early career faculty mentees who wish to prepare an application to National Institutes of Health to conduct biomedical research. GUMSHOE will use a model based on innovation, best practices, and convene cohorts of junior faculty working with specific underserved and underrepresented populations.
Program Directors
Spero Manson, PhD, UC Denver & Dedra Buchwald, MD, WSU
Questions about GUMSHOE? Contact Dr. Spero Manson directly at spero.manson@ucdenver.edu.
Other questions can be sent to PDC@nrmnet.net.
Overview
*Although NRMN supports the training and career development of individuals from groups identified by the NIH as under-represented in biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social science research careers, eligibility to participate in GUMSHOE is open to all individuals who meet the program eligibility criteria, and is not limited to individuals who belong to an under-represented group.
Size of Cohort: up to 25 Mentees per program cycle
Size of Instructor Cohort: 3 NRMN faculty; up to 8 GUMSHOE coaches
Total Program Duration: 6 months
Each mentee is assigned to a GUMSHOE coach. NRMN faculty supervise the program.
Each mentee completes the following assignments during the 6 month program:
- Attend 3-day, in-person intensive grant writing workshop (see dates and locations below).
- With an assigned coach, design an individualized work schedule and meet on average twice monthly for a minimum 30-minute telephonic session to draft, revise, and finalize relevant grant application components over the remaining 6 months of program cycle.
- With an assigned NIH Grant Program Officer, review and revise early- and late-stage versions of grant applications.
- Have one’s grant application reviewed by a NIH section reviewer.
- With NRMN faculty, review, revise, and finalize applications for submission to NIH.
In addition, 2 weeks prior to the 3-day, in-person meeting, mentees are required to:
- Participate in an online writing class.
- Complete exercises on how to write Specific Aims.
- Draft, revise, and submit a Specific Aims page prior to workshop.
- View videos on the NIH process for reviewing proposals.
Each coach-in-training completes the following assignments during the 6 month program:
- Review and critique mentees’ specific aims page 1 week prior to workshop.
- Attend 3-day, in-person intensive grant writing workshop.
- With an assigned coach, design an individualized work schedule and meet on average twice monthly for a minimum 30-minute telephonic session to draft, revise, and finalize relevant grant application components over the remaining 6 months of program cycle.
- Coordinate with assigned NIH Grant Program Officers to review and revise early- and late-stage versions of mentees’ grant applications.
- Coordinate with NRMN faculty to review, revise, and finalize applications for submission to NIH.
One GUMSHOE coach is assigned to each mentee. Coaches are typically investigators who have received an NIH research award as a Principal Investigator (preferably within the past 10 years); are up to date on NIH procedures and trends; are experienced in providing feedback and guidance to others preparing NIH research or research career development proposal; and are skilled in small-group facilitation, such as eliciting others’ input, managing different personalities, and keeping group on task. Our coaches are committed to helping early-stage investigators – particularly those from diverse backgrounds – to secure sponsored research funding and to advance their research careers, and often have extensive experience with the populations of interest to GUMSHOE.
Note: Upon completion of the program, trainees will receive a 6-month, 12-month, and 18-month assessment to complete. These assessments will help improve NRMN and other programs in the future.
