# Enrichment Program

> **NIH NIH P30** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · $48,902

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY – VDDRC ENRICHMENT
The Enrichment Program provides critical mechanisms to support the overall goals of the VDDRC via the
following Specific Aims: 1) To foster the scientific and professional career development and promote
diversity of members; 2) To expand research tools used by VDDRC members to pursue studies in the
realm of digestive disease; and 3) To extend the impact and disseminate knowledge gained from research
performed by VDDRC members. To achieve these goals, the VDDRC has incorporated several innovative
elements into the following Enrichment components: A) the Research Seminar Series; B) the Academy of
Investigators; C) the Enrichment Training (mini-sabbatical) Program; and D) the Annual Retreat. To
catalyze member scientific development and interactions, the VDDRC Research Seminar Series was
initiated in 2002. This series is a vehicle for prominent local, national, and international investigators to present
lectures related to topics within the VDDRC Research Domains. The breadth and depth of VDDRC scientific
impact has now been enhanced by new partnerships with multiple Vanderbilt Centers to co-sponsor
speakers. Institutional and endowed support over the current funding period ($50,000) also sponsored
complementary research lectures within the GI Division targeting the interests of VDDRC members. To train
the next generation of GI researchers, we created the VDDRC Academy of Investigators, a program in
which junior investigators acquire important career development tools. This component is directed by Dr.
Alyssa Hasty, a former VDDRC P & F recipient and Young Investigator Awardee, and co-directed by Dr. Lori
Coburn, a former P & F recipient, and will receive $125,000 from Vanderbilt over the next 5 years. The
Academy will now oversee a new VDDRC Diversity Initiative supported jointly by NIDDK and
Vanderbilt as a mechanism to attract trainees from diverse backgrounds into GI research. To provide
members with the opportunity to expand their research capabilities, the VDDRC Enrichment Training
(mini-sabbatical) Program supports members’ leaves to work in another laboratory for either the acquisition
of new techniques or to establish a new model related to digestive disease research. The annual VDDRC
Retreat is designed to disseminate research findings of our members and includes a symposium featuring
internal speakers and current P & F recipients, a keynote speaker, and a poster session (ePosters and
standard posters), which provides robust interactions among senior investigators, junior faculty, and trainees.
Vouchers for VDDRC Cores are awarded to the best posters as judged by Program leaders. Finally, the
VDDRC is a member of the newly minted Eastern Regional DDRCC Alliance, which is now funded by
NIDDK to develop a virtual seminar series and an exchange program focused on junior faculty and P & F
recipients as a means to promote career development.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10887476
- **Project number:** 5P30DK058404-23
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** RICHARD M. PEEK
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $48,902
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2002-06-15 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10887476

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10887476, Enrichment Program (5P30DK058404-23). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10887476. Licensed CC0.

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