Post-Baccalaureate Fellows Program

Fellows will have one person in the lab assigned to meet them, orient them to the lab space, and introduce them to colleagues on their first day. Primary mentors will also meet the fellows to discuss research projects. The first two weeks of the program will include frequent check-ins by mentors, program directors, and program staff to ensure fellows are adjusting to their new positions. An orientation meeting will be led by program directors during the first week to make introductions, review program expectations, and begin career goal setting.

Fellows will perform cancer research during the entirely of the two-year program. As they immerse themselves in the lab, they will have ample time to develop abstracts, posters, and potentially, manuscripts. Fellows will be given flexibility to ensure their attendance at career development seminars, networking activities, and other events aligned with their career plans. Mentors will provide regular guidance on how to balance time and manage research efficiently, and they will host lab retreats and weekly lab meetings.

Our Cancer Biology PhD students participate in a student-run Cancer Biology Journal Club each week, covering topics such as DNA damage and repair, the tumor microenvironment, oncogene networks, and the mutational landscape of cancers. Fellows will join the PhD students in this journal club to further contribute to their academic learning experience during the program.

Fellows will participate in four workshops over their two-year tenure. Each workshop will be led by one of the Program Directors and an SCC faculty colleague selected for each topic. Approximately one-month long and meeting twice per week, workshops will include:

1) Computational Biology, which covers basic coding and software used to analyze large datasets typical of those found in The Cancer Genome Atlas;

2) Grant-Writing, teaching how to write a successful F30/31/32 grant (Dr. Weber serves as the chair of the F09 Cancer Biology study section for F30/31/32 NIH/NCI grants);

3) Presentations, to learn how to generate scientific slides and develop presentation skills; and

4) Graduate School Preparation, teaching to write effective application essays and perform formal mock interviews with SCC faculty. This particular workshop will be scheduled during the fellows’ first year in an effort to prepare them for doctoral program applications and interviews in year two.

The WashU Bioethics Research Center (BRC) will provide fellows with ethics training throughout the duration of the program. The BRC has designed an RCR curriculum covering eight hours of interactive sessions focused on a wide breadth of topics. Sessions include best practice lectures, vignettes, and small group discussions to prepare trainees for challenges they may face in a research career. Fellows will be expected to complete two hours of RCR training every six months.

SCC faculty will present their research and discuss their own career progression with the fellows each month during the two-year program. Presentations will range from basic science to population health. The SCC Research Talks will also be attended by the 8 ACS-funded undergraduate interns who are also conducting cancer-related research. Each presentation will be followed by a networking reception where fellows can meet and interact with SCC faculty and leadership.

SCC’s Shared Resources showcase state of the art facilities and will be available to our fellows to tour. Each fellow will have the opportunity to explore each cancer research facility in an engaged manner with faculty and staff who actively operate shared resources that support cancer research.

Fellows will individually meet with a mentorship team bi-annually. The team will consist of the fellow’s primary mentor, one program director, and one additional mentor, selected by the fellow, who is working in the fellow’s desired career path. Each fellow will be responsible for preparing research updates for the advisors as well as a current Individual Development Plan (IDP) to review at the meeting. IDPs have been structured based on feedback from the Division of Biology and Biomedical Sciences Education Coordinator and will first be drafted by fellows over the course of their first two months in the program. They will illustrate the fellow’s five year career plan, including detailed benchmarks to meet in order to reach the desired goals. Fellows will be encouraged to consider work-life balance and the timing of personal goals as well, but we will not require them to disclose these details within the IDP. Fellows will update their IDP after each meeting with additional resources, educational opportunities, milestones and time points, as discussed with their mentorship team. Directors will also make changes to the program based on the evolving career goals expressed by fellows.

Program Directors will host monthly, informal group mentorship sessions for the fellows. While individual advisement meetings will focus on one fellow’s goals, group meetings will serve to support interactions and discuss questions and challenges that all fellows may share. The group format will allow fellows can raise concerns as a group that they may not want to discuss in isolation with their advisors. Our goal is to reduce the power differential by including all of the fellows in an informal conversation.

Each month, our fellows will attend career development seminars designed for Predoctoral students, postdocs, and early career faculty. The WashU Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) office organizes faculty speakers and external experts to discuss topics such as negotiation, time management in research, early career grant opportunities, and the many research career paths available.

Fellows will be invited to participate in the annual SCC Symposium in November of their first year. They will then be required to give a poster or a podium presentation during their second year in the program, when their research is further along.

Fellows will also be offered participation in national meetings each year, and may choose between scientific meetings or conferences focused on supporting
investigators’ career development. Support will be provided for trainees to attend four national cancer conferences each during their appointments to the program.

Fellows will give a final research presentation at the end of the two-year program to highlight their mentored research projects. In preparation for their presentations, fellows will be provided with guidance and multiple practice sessions where they will be given the opportunity to critique each other’s presentations.

Cancer Biology PhD students will serve as additional mentors for fellows during the program to provide them with guidance from students who were recently in their position. Near-peer mentors will regularly interact with fellows during program career development and networking events. As Co-Director of the PhD Program, Dr. Weber has clear oversight and can easily monitor these interactions.

Social events are held regularly for fellows and program leaders to openly discuss experiences and identify improvements to strengthen the program. The annual Cancer Biology Retreat will give fellows the chance to network and to present their research in an oral or poster format. Hope Lodge Dinners will be hosted by fellows twice annually to expose fellows to patient families and emphasize the real-world impact of their research. Our team will also present fellows with resources and affinity group contacts within WashU and Siteman Cancer Center specifically.

Fellows will be invited to return to WashU for future events and interaction with future cohorts. This will help them form a larger, supportive community within the cancer research workforce whilst helping develop the next cadre of cancer research fellows.