# The Minnesota IRACDA Program

> **NIH NIH K12** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2024 · $664,475

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Although the USA has seen a significant increase in the number of PhD degrees in the biomedical sciences
earned by scientists from underrepresented and racially minoritized (URM) backgrounds, there has not been a
corresponding increase in the representation of URM faculty in the biomedical professoriate. To address this
disparity in the state of Minnesota and more broadly, the University of Minnesota formulated and implemented
the Minnesota IRACDA Program. The Minnesota IRACDA Program is a collaboration between the University of
Minnesota and the nearby community colleges of Normandale Community College and North Hennepin
Community College, which predominantly serve students from minority and low-income urban populations. The
Minnesota IRACDA Program provides a diverse cohort of recent PhD scholars with rigorous scientific research
training, instruction, mentoring, experience in teaching, and career development guidance. The long-term goal
of the Minnesota IRACDA Program is to develop and implement successful and creative strategies to promote
and facilitate the transition of talented postdoctoral researchers from diverse backgrounds into independent
faculty careers in biomedical research and education. The overall objectives of the Minnesota IRACDA Program
are to: (1) Recruit postdoctoral scholars from backgrounds that have been historically excluded from STEM
research and education and provide them with strong multitiered mentoring in cutting-edge biomedical research.
(2) Provide the postdoctoral scholars with pedagogical training in modern teaching techniques that incorporate
diverse populations, and mentored practice in evidence-based teaching at the undergraduate level at two
teaching-intensive institutions that predominantly serve students from minority and low-income urban
populations—Normandale Community College and North Hennepin Community College. (3) Equip postdoctoral
scholars with a multitude of career and professional development opportunities and programs including,
participation in workshops that address scientific communication, publication, job searches, grant writing,
professional advancement, and diversity, equity, and inclusion in biomedical research. (4) Provide URM
undergraduates from the teaching-intensive partner institutions with paid authentic research opportunities at the
University of Minnesota in which they are mentored by the postdoctoral scholars. In the first funding period, the
Minnesota IRACDA Program met or exceeded all key benchmarks: (i) Nearly 40% of the IRACDA scholars
recruited to the program were from URM backgrounds. (ii) IRACDA scholars were successful in career
progression. Of the six scholars who completed training, four moved on to tenure-track Assistant Professor or
Lecturer positions. (iii) URM undergraduate students participated in authentic research under the mentorship of
IRACDA scholars and most successfully transferred to four-year degree programs. We are seeking funding to
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10909080
- **Project number:** 5K12GM119955-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** David Irwin Greenstein
- **Activity code:** K12 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $664,475
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-08-01 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10909080

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10909080, The Minnesota IRACDA Program (5K12GM119955-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10909080. Licensed CC0.

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