# It's Contagious!  Promoting the Biomedical Workforce Pipeline through Infectious Diseases

> **NIH NIH R25** · TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2024 · $258,275

## Abstract

Our Country’s biomedical workforce needs more professionals. In particular there is a grave need to promote diversity
within this population. Interventions, from elementary to college, to address this need aim to educate students about
opportunities in biomedicine. However, it’s important to note the educators of our future biomedical workforce are
often not included in these interventions. The lack of engagement of teachers results in a growing gap in knowledge
about the biomedical workforce pipeline and contemporary biomedical research topics which must be remedied.
Innovative interventions are needed to expand student exposure to biomedical careers as well as enhance teacher
professional development in biomedical research areas. Further, when teachers are provided the tools to apply data literacy
to their teaching practices, they are then empowered to maximally engage their students in these novel interventions. The
proposed SEPA program, “It’s Contagious! Promoting the Biomedical Workforce Pipeline through Infectious Diseases”,
will feature the current science issue of infectious diseases. Using data from infectious disease research and interactions
with biomedical researchers the Teachers as Researchers (TaR) program will (Aim 1), engage secondary teachers to create
and integrate Classroom To Career Connections (C2C2) activities and supplemental narratives into their classroom
instruction (Aim 2). The TaR program will provide data literacy professional development for teachers as they will collect
data from the C2C2 activities. TaR cohorts will participate in a Community of Practice (CoP) (Aim 3) where they will apply
data literacy skills to evaluate C2C2 activities assessing student knowledge of infectious diseases and apply data outcomes
to inform teaching practices. Within the CoP Teachers will engage in discourse with CoP colleagues as they evaluate student
data and present data outcomes. Participants will reflect upon how data outcomes from student activities inform decisions
regarding their own teaching practices galvanizing data literacy skills that teachers will apply throughout their career.
Through these aims, “It’s Contagious! Promoting the Biomedical Workforce Pipeline through Infectious Diseases”
will support teachers in their mission as they inspire the next generation of biomedical scientists.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10845701
- **Project number:** 5R25GM142021-03
- **Recipient organization:** TEXAS BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Rosemary Riggs
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $258,275
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-07-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10845701

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10845701, It's Contagious!  Promoting the Biomedical Workforce Pipeline through Infectious Diseases (5R25GM142021-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10845701. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*