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We invite toxicologists to serve as mentors to undergraduate students as part of the year-long Toxicology Mentoring and Skills Development Training Program (ToxMSDT). Making this commitment has the rewards of assisting an undergraduate along their career path, increasing awareness of toxicology, and networking with like-minded toxicologists. ToxMSDT, based at the University of California Davis (UC Davis), is a multi-institutional, including SOT, collaborative effort funded by the National Institutes of Health to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups on the pathway to careers in toxicology and the biomedical sciences.

Mentor applications are due now. Twenty-five undergraduate students have just been selected to participate in the program from September 2022 to June 2023. A mentor is matched with each student based on mutual interests and career objectives.

Each mentor commits to:

• Hosting the mentee at their worksite to provide “two days in the life of a toxicologist” during the year
• Meeting virtually once a month with the mentee
• Participating in three conferences, including the inaugural weekend workshop at UC Davis (October 2022); the 2023 SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo in Nashville, Tennessee (March 19–23, with approximately a day and a half committed to ToxMSDT activities from the evening of Saturday, March 18, through midday on Tuesday, March 21); and the capstone workshop at Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, Alabama (April 2023).

In addition, mentors are expected to participate in training, program events, and evaluation surveys to assess program activities. The grant covers mentor travel expenses for all planned activities, except for federal employees. Federal employees who can self-support are encouraged to apply.

For more information, see the ToxMSDT "Mentors" web page, or watch the SOT TV feature on the ToxMSDT program.

Questions? Email ToxMSDT.

ToxMSDT Partners