Choose Development! Program Receives Bridge Funding

By Marsha E. Lucas

As mentioned in SDB President Robb Krumlauf's message, the Society for Developmental Biology Board of Directors approved two years of bridge funding for the Choose Development! summer research program which aims to increase the diversity of undergraduate students that enter graduate programs in pursuit of research careers in developmental biology. Choose Development! was initiated by a 3-year National Science Foundation grant (2013-2016) which ends in March. Bridge funding through 2018 will allow SDB to recruit new Fellows into the program and apply for new funding.

What makes the SDB Choose Development! program unique is its focus on a multi-year research experience in an SDB member’s lab; team mentoring by both the lab head and an advanced graduate student or postdoc; and providing a supportive community of scientists (you).

Since 2013, 15 undergraduate students have participated in summer research through the Choose Development! program. Fellows present their work the following summer at the SDB annual meeting. This year in Snowbird, 11 Fellows presented posters and attended the Choose Development! Workshop. Visit the SDB website to see pictures from the meeting, photos of SDB Fellows at the Marine Biological Laboratory Embryology Course, and the latest SDB Fellow videos.

Applications are now being accepted for SDB Fellows and SDB Academic Mentors. The application deadline is February 15, 2016.