# MARC Supplement at Georgia State University: Workforce Diversity Through Enhanced Mentoring

> **NIH NIH T34** · GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $66,666

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 MARC Supplement at Georgia State University:
Workforce Diversity Through Enhanced Mentoring
MARC@GSU launched in 2019 and has supported two cohorts of high-performing
undergraduates in mentored research and professional development opportunities; a third cohort
is being recruited in spring 2021. Despite the pandemic-related challenges, we have successfully
matched students with supportive faculty mentors, and they are generating, presenting, and
publishing data together. Our mentors are attending mentoring workshops, and our trainees are
attending professional development workshops. Nevertheless, sustained mentor-mentee
communications and follow-up from workshops are not always optimal. This project proposed in
this supplement application aims to develop and test a new tool to foster effective mentor-mentee
relationships. We will establish a user-friendly, easily-accessible, online platform through which
mentors can create customized mentoring workbooks for use with individual mentees or teams.
The platform will support mentors as they guide MARC@GSU scholars toward diverse research
career paths. For Aim 1, we will assess current mentor-mentee relationships and identify gaps in
mentor preparation, using focus group discussions and literature-based searches. For Aim 2, we
will assemble materials and build a platform through which mentors can create customized
workbooks with exercises that will help to establish and actively maintain communications and
effective mentoring relationships. We will also optimize the platform in collaboration with program
directors and mentor-mentee dyads from collaborating institutions, enhancing generalizability of
the platform. For Aim 3, we will integrate the new platform into research programs at GSU and
make them available for other institutions nationwide, using promotional videos, instructional
guides, targeted communiques, and peer-reviewed publications. Strategically designed
assessments along with institutionalization and dissemination of the product will maximize the
impact of this project. Ultimately, the platform will enhance development of mentors and promote
diversity, equity, and inclusion in biomedical research environments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10394018
- **Project number:** 3T34GM131939-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ritu Aneja
- **Activity code:** T34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $66,666
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-06-01 → 2024-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10394018

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10394018, MARC Supplement at Georgia State University: Workforce Diversity Through Enhanced Mentoring (3T34GM131939-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10394018. Licensed CC0.

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