Although both academic departments at UCLA and CDU require assignment of a senior faculty member to serve as an academic mentor to new Assistant Professors, the UCLA-CDU CFAR will provide access to additional mentors with expertise in HIV research that matches the new faculty member’s research interests, and will also link these new faculty members to other available programs across both institutions (e.g. those available through the CTSI).
Peer Mentoring Pods pairs small peer groups of ESIs with one or two senior HIV Investigators for quarterly in-person meetings.
Once established, these groups continue longitudinally. Often held during a meal (paid by the CFAR), groups use shared-experiences and mentored discussion to problem-solve common challenges encountered during academic research career development.
Discussions are catalyzed by group members in the form of peer-to-peer mentoring with facilitation by a senior faculty mentor, focusing on experiences within the group finding solutions to issues encountered in their research careers.
Previous topics have included: how to be a mentee, navigating manuscript authorship discussions, salary/start-up package negotiation, oral research presentation skills, effective slide/graphic presentation techniques, resources for technology/”app” creation, K-series award preparation challenges, time management/wellness, and pilot/seed grant funding opportunities.
For more information regarding the ‘Peer Mentoring Pods, please contact Jina Lee at jinalee@mednet.ucla.edu