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We invite applications from SOT members willing to serve as mentors to undergraduate students as part of the Toxicology Mentoring and Skills Development Training Program (ToxMSDT). This program, based at the University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, is a multi-institutional collaborative effort to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups on the pathway to careers in toxicology and the biomedical sciences.

Completed applications are due by May 28, 2021. Mentors will be selected using the interests of the undergraduate students who will be accepted in the first cohort, which will be active from September 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022.

Each mentor will commit to hosting the mentee at their work site for “two days in the life of a toxicologist” (between September 1 and June 30). They also will commit to meeting virtually once every month with the mentee, as well as participating in three conferences:

• The inaugural weekend workshop at UC Davis (arriving Thursday, September 16, and departing Sunday, September 19)
• The SOT Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, March 25–29 (1.5 days actual time commitment)
• The capstone workshop at Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama (arriving Friday, April 21, and departing Sunday, April 24).

In addition, mentors are expected to participate in program evaluation surveys to assess program activities.

Except for federal employees, mentor expenses for all planned activities are all covered by the grant. Federal employees who can self-support are strongly encouraged to apply.

Advantages of serving as a mentor in this program include (1) supporting career development of the future generation of toxicologists, (2) cultivating a new network of like-minded colleagues, and (3) funding to attend the SOT Annual Meeting.

For more information, see the ToxMSDT mentor web page. Questions? Contact ToxMSDT@gmail.com.