From its inception, the Vascular Biology COBRE has been committed to the mentoring and career development of junior investigators at OMRF and neighboring institutions. Many COBRE investigators and pilot project leaders from Phases I and II have emerged as successful independent investigators with funding from NIH and other national sources and with publications in prominent peer-reviewed journals. Our mentoring culture is innovative by virtue of its depth and dedication. The sustained commitment of three mentors to every COBRE investigator provides complementary expertise and insights regarding career development. Members of the Steering Committee serve as mentors, and the Committee assigns other mentors from OMRF or other institutions as appropriate. All mentors are senior investigators with established research programs and a committee to mentoring. Importantly, the culture places a premium on developing the mentoring skills of the junior investigators so that they guide and support the aspirations of the students, postdocs, and staff in their own labs.
Mentoring is designed to foster the long-term success of mentees as independent investigators. The administrative structure of the COBRE is designed to respect junior investigator autonomy and to encourage independent action. Nevertheless, the COBRE leadership mandates periodic evaluation and has an expectation for scientific progress. Each mentor has a scheduled monthly meeting with each of his/her mentees, but informal interactions occur much more frequently. In addition, each junior investigator meets with all three mentors quarterly for a formal evaluation. The project leader presents a brief overview of his/her work to date. The formal structure is designed to ensure candid but supportive criticism on a regular basis. The inclusion of all three mentors is intended to encourage discussion and to raise issues that might be missed by a single mentor. These quarterly meetings serve as a “warm-up” for the annual visit of the EAC, which brings together all project leaders, core directors, and the Steering Committee. A partial list of mentoring responsibilities includes:
• Help/critique in designing experiments that test hypotheses
• Review manuscripts before submission
• Advise which journals are appropriate for submission of manuscripts
• Serve as a local advocate
• Serve as advocate for presentations at national meetings
• Share reagents and techniques
• Assist in preparing competitive grant applications
• Help recruiting students, postdoctoral fellows, and technicians
• Advise on interactions with technicians and more junior colleagues
• Provide strategic career advice