From its beginning in 2009 and throughout its tenure, the mission of the Mentored Experiences in Research, Instruction, and Teaching (MERIT) Program continues to be to prepare postdoctoral scholars to become tomorrow’s leading researchers and academicians. To achieve this mission, the MERIT Program remains focused on providing postdoctoral scholars with outstanding research and teaching experiences while improving the recruitment of underrepresented groups into the fields of biomedical and behavioral research. The MERIT Program is facilitated through a partnership of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Oakwood University, Lawson State Community College, and the University of Montevallo; all schools are located in Alabama within a 100 mile radius. During the current funding period, assessment of the MERIT Program has indicated i) MERIT scholars have progressed in their research productivity, teaching abilities, and faculty placement opportunities; ii) increased programmatic impact on the Partner Institutions via the MERIT Research Seminar Series, science-related curricula development, and summer research experiences; and iii) productive collaborations with Partners as evidenced by receipt of federal grant awards. In this third competitive renewal, the research component continues to incorporate laboratory-based instruction together with research ethics training and professional skills development, including instruction in grant writing and time and laboratory management. The teaching component remains comprised of four key elements: i) teaching-related coursework; ii) one-on-one mentoring of an undergraduate student; iii) course development; and iv) class-room and on-line teaching experiences. New programmatic elements for the next funding cycle include enhanced recruitment approaches and academic job preparation; newly developed formal mentor training; increased resources for current MERIT Scholars and Alumni; new and expanded faculty collaborations at Oakwood, Lawson State and Montevallo through launch of a shared teaching-as-research project; and increased UAB institutional commitment. Currently, the MERIT Program funds nine training slots each year; in this application, we request to retain this same number of training slots per year.