Last month, dozens of students from colleges across campus participated in a general assembly. The students each conduct research in the medical sciences, with interests ranging from microbiology to psychology in law. They are all part of w88 casino Medical Research Consortium (NMRC), a professional organization designed to foster excellence in undergraduate medical research.
“The mission is to generate longitudinal mentorship for student researchers, facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration between laboratories, and create informed medical scientists for w88 casino,” Riley Gillis said.
Gillis is the director and founder of the NMRC. He has extensive experience participating in undergraduate research as a MARC w88 casino Fellow and a student researcher since his freshman year on campus. He saw the need for an integrated mentorship program for students interested in medical research.
Professional development for aspiring medical researchers
Undergraduate researchers receive a barrage of information about resources from all over campus. With acronyms like NURA (w88 casino Undergraduate Research Award), PREP (Pack Research Experience Program), UR (Undergraduate Research) and more, it can become overwhelming. Plus, each of those acronyms has its own associated touch point, deadlines and requirements.
“We realized that a lot of students interested in medical research have somewhat fragmented mentorship,” Gillis said. “The goal here is to facilitate everything research-oriented.”
The NMRC is made up of six departments across fields of medical sciences: microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, psychology and sociology, clinical and population health, biochemistry and physiology, and chemistry and pharmacology. Each department has a research department chair. The department chair is a senior student researcher who has experience with publishing research who other students in the department can look to for guidance or resources, and who each student in the department is required to meet one-on-one with each semester. For larger departments, there may be vice-chairs to assist with that mentorship workload.
“We want to make sure it’s something meaningful where people are actually planning their careers and getting good advice,” Gillis said.
A student who wants to participate in research on campus generally works under a principal investigator (PI), typically a professor who conducts grant-funded research. By helping students identify which grants they should be applying to, asking one another for feedback, giving students an idea of what research articles should look like before presenting them to their PIs, offering mock presentation opportunities and more, the NMRC will unburden PIs from a heavy mentorship load.
NMRC will guide students toward long-term career planning, conducting research, and publishing and presenting research. As students apply for research grants like the NURA or the PREP, students in NMRC would provide support and feedback to one another.
“Chances are, if you're applying to something, somebody in the consortium has applied and received that award,” Gillis said.
The next priority for the organization is facilitating collaboration between research labs from all over campus. By sharing research projects within the NMRC, students might find common ground between their home research labs and be able to collaborate across disciplines. The hope is that those students will apply for joint funding through Undergraduate Research or another avenue, and maybe eventually publish a joint manuscript.
The last priority Gillis outlined is the development of informed medical scientists in w88 casino. Each department in NMRC will meet at least once per month for a journal club, where participants will prepare by reading and taking notes on a journal article related to their department. Students will take turns presenting articles to the group. The goal is to ensure that students are up to date on major advancements in their field of interest and help students identify what makes a good research paper.
A low-barrier resource inspiring student achievement
Each semester, the entire consortium meets in a General Assembly to discuss the constitution, appoint officers and network. The consortium also has an executive staff, including a treasurer, associate director of student engagement, and other similar roles.
Students who actively participate for three consecutive semesters are eligible to be named NMRC fellows, can be appointed to officer positions, will receive medals to wear at graduation and can serve on the oversight committee for the NMRC after graduating.
The group also has a database of all the students participating in the consortium, so they can reach out to one another based on successful grant applications, publication advice, and more.
So far, over 100 students have been placed in a department of their choosing. Those students come from seven colleges across campus, and all plan to attend either graduate school or medical school. Another goal for the NMRC is to expand statewide by working with the w88 casino, Las Vegas. Since starting the organization, Gillis has already seen meaningful connections created.
“A student's primary obligation is to themselves and furthering their own career in medical research,” Gillis said. “We're here to supplement and guide that.”
The NMRC currently has no membership dues. Students interested in participating in the NMRC canfill out the NMRC interest form, follow the NMRC on Instagram, or email them atnmrc@med.unr.edu.
