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Postdocs appointed as MUSC’s first IRACDA K-12 grant scholars by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations Three MUSC postdoctoral researchers have been appointed as the first Institutional Research Career and Academic Development Award (IRACDA) scholars under a recently-awarded $1.2 million K-12 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.   Heather Trantham-Davidson, Ph.D., Neurosciences; Jennifer Grant, Ph.D., Pharmacology; and Andrew Hunter, Ph.D., Cell Biology and Anatomy; will represent MUSC in its first National Institutes of Health K-12 grant award.   The three postdocs will teach at Claflin University, a historically black institution in Orangeburg, encouraging minority college students to pursue fields in biomedical science while enhancing their own academic career development.   “This year they will be preparing by taking teaching classes,” said Cynthia F. Wright, Ph.D., assistant dean for College of Graduate Studies admissions. “It probably won’t be until next fall that any of them actually goes to Claflin to teach. When they do teach, it  will be for one-half semester, and they are responsible for all aspects of teaching a class: lectures, giving and grading tests, office hours, etc. However, it is important to remember that the bulk of their time in any year remains focused on their research activities so that they also remain productive scientists.”   The program is being co-directed by Wright and Edward Krug, Ph.D., assistant dean for postdoctoral affairs in the College of Graduate Studies. Elements of the program will foster collaboration between Claflin and MUSC faculty, and financial resources should provide Claflin students experience with contemporary tools.   Claflin students also will be encouraged to participate in a 10-week summer undergraduate program at MUSC to offer them in-depth experience performing rigorous research projects to spark intellectual curiosity. The overall goal is to instill in minority students a desire  to pursue productive research careers.   The scholars will meet at MUSC with Claflin officials Oct 8.   The MUSC/Claflin IRACDA program is one of only 11 awarded by the NIGMS since IRACDA first began issuing grants six years ago.     Friday, Sept. 28, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.