PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT-PENN STATE NRSA TRAINING CORE Translation of scientific discoveries into effective clinical interventions and best practices to improve public health is a complex process transcending traditional disciplines. The goal of the Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) TL 1 Training Core is to provide early career scientists with the interdisciplinary training needed to conduct collaborative translational research aimed at transforming knowledge to benefit human health. Our program provides opportunities for predoctoral trainees to gain a foundation in clinical and translational science (CTS) through competency-based, didactic, experiential, mentored training opportunities coupled with career development activities. Drawing students from both the College of Medicine (CoM) and University Park (UP) campuses, the TL 1 program is a forum for communication, collaboration, and cross-fertilization of ideas among students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines including biomedical sciences, medicine, nursing, nutritional sciences, biobehavioral and social sciences, and bioengineering. In the past funding cycle (2016- 2019), we trained 27 students in our year-long program (22 PhD, 3 MD/PhD, 1 MD/MPH, 1 MD) and 40 students in our summer program (19 PhD, 21 MD). In this renewal application, we request support for 6 year-long trainees and 16 short-term trainees per year. Trainees in the 1-year program pursue studies leading to a certificate in Translational Science, a MS in Clinical Research, or a unique dual-title PhD in Clinical and Translational Sciences. Training is customized via individual development plans and enhanced by externships and experiential clinical research, development of leadership, communication, and time management skills, and activities focused on team science, entrepreneurship, regulatory science, and community engagement. A short-term training is offered in summer to a mixed cohort of medical and graduate students who are introduced to the fundamental aspects of CTS in a highly interactive format while conducting mentored research projects. We now seek to enhance the TL 1 program with aims to: 1) Expand and enhance Penn State's community of predoctoral trainees engaged in CTS by increasing disciplinary, racial/ethnic and other elements of diversity of trainees by working with the directors of existing undergraduate pipeline programs, and by developing a new internal pipeline program to Diversify Research Training in Clinical and Translational Sciences (DiReCTS); 2) Provide customized, competency-based didactic and experiential training through externships and training in collaborative team science, coupled with career development activities, structured mentor/mentee training, and networking activities across CTSA Hubs with shared interests in rural health and health disparities; and 3) Increase the quality and effectiveness of our CTS training by using a data-driven decision-making approac...