Hellenic Bioscientic Association of the USA (HBA-USA) Mentoring Program

Elisavet Serti, PhDGeneral Secretary

• HBA-USA Objectives

• HBA-USA Mentoring program

Structure

Mentors

Strategy of dissemination

Evaluation of mentees

Evaluation of the program

Challenges

Content

Established in Boston in 2005

Mission: we promote the interactions between between students, academics and professionals in biomedical disciplines in the USA and Greece, to inspire Greek students to pursuit a career in US.

Objectives

• To create a network of communication and cooperation among bioscientists of Greek descent currently based in the U.S.A.

• To facilitate the flow of information and ideas on scientific and professional issues among its members.

• To represent its members' positions in topics of special professional interest within the USA and overseas.

• To obtain and distribute information on grants and employment opportunities. • To inspire Greek students to pursuit a career in the USA.

Hellenic Bioscientific Association of the USA

Geographical distribution of the HBA-USA members

~500 members from over 30 states of the USA

50% of the members are of Assist. Professor level and above

Members span all scientific disciplines in Biosciences

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

• Vision: to connect Greek and Greek-American mentors and mentees in the USA and Greece to provide guidance and career advice in the field of biomedical sciences.

• Mission: to build a strong, sustainable network where distinguished Greek or Greek-American scientists and entrepreneurs of the USA will mentor young Greek or Greek-American students and scientists in the field of biomedical sciences.

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

• The mentors of the program are established scientists in different biomedical fields or medical doctors, and they currently work in either the academia or industry.

• Potential mentees will be members of the HBA-USA and in training (undergraduate, graduate or postdoctoral students).

Structure1. Create a list of potential mentors

Site: Mentoring page – List of mentors

2. Disseminate the program to Greek Institutes indicating that applications will be reviewed every three months

3. Review mentees’ applications* and assign eligible mentees to mentors

4. Upon acceptance an e-mail connecting the mentee and mentor will be send out - Mentor and mentee will agree on how often (minimum 2 times per year for 2 years) they will communicate and in what way

5. Each year an evaluation form for the program will be send out to the mentees and mentors

* HBA members will meet once per two months (in person and phone) to review the applications. Two HBA members will review each application and will give a score between 0-10. If a mentee take an average score ≥7 then he/she will be eligible for mentoring and the mentor of his/her preference will be contacted.

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

Mentors

• Children’s National Medical Center: Dr. Panagiotis Kratimenos

• Georgia Institute of Technology: Dr. Costas Arvanitis, Dr. Kostas Konstantinidis

• Harvard Medical School/School of Public Health: Dr. George Tsokos, Dr. Aristeidis Veves, Dr. StefanosKales, Dr. Laurence Rahme, Dr. Nikolaos Patsopoulos, Dr. Vasileios Lioutas

• Medical University of South Carolina: Peter Kalivas

• National Institutes of Health: Dr. Irini Sereti

• New York Presbyterian – Weill Cornell Medical Center: Dr. Dimitrios Avgerinos

• NYU School of Medicine: Dr. Aristotelis Tsirigos

• Northeastern University: Dr. Diomedes Logothetis

• Temple University: Dr. Konstantinos Drosatos

• University of Kansas: Dr. Pinelopi Kapitsinou

• University of Pennsylvania: Dr. Denis Hadjiliadis

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

Structure1. Create a list of potential mentors

Site: Mentoring page – List of mentors

2. Disseminate the program to Greek Institutes indicating that applications will be reviewed every three months

3. Review mentees’ applications* and assign eligible mentees to mentors Upon acceptance an e-mail connecting the mentee and mentor will be

send out - Mentor and mentee will agree on how often (minimum 2 times per year for 2 years) they will communicate and in what way

4. Each year an evaluation form for the program will be send out to the mentees and mentors

* HBA members will meet once per two months (in person and phone) to review the applications. Two HBA members will review each application and will give a score between 0-10. If a mentee take an average score ≥7 then he/she will be eligible for mentoring and the mentor of his/her preference will be contacted.

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

Dissemination

• Emails to Greek Universities and Institutes:

• National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

• National Technical University of Athens

• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

• University of Crete

• University of Patras

• Democritus University of Thrace

• University of Ioannina

• School of Agricultural Sciences, University of Thessaly

• National Centre of Scientific Research "Demokritos"

• the Center of Research and Technology Hellas

• Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas

• HBA-USA webpage: http://www.hbausa.org/mentorship-program

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

Greek EURAXESS Portal: a resource for foreign researchers who plan to come to Greece. The portal is co-financed by the European Commission and is connected to the EURAXESS Jobs Portal and EURAXESS Services Network.

• 13 EURAXESS Services centers in Greece • Bridgehead organization is the Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas (CERTH)

Research AreasEnergy, Environment, Industry, Mechatronics, Information & Communication, Transportation & Sustainable Mobility, Health, Agro-biotechnology, Smart farming, Safety & Security, as well as several cross-disciplinary scientific areas.

The Greek EURAXESS Services Centers Network

Structure1. Create a list of potential mentors

Site: Mentoring page – List of mentors

2. Disseminate the program to Greek Institutes indicating that applications will be reviewed every three months

3. Review mentees’ applications* and assign eligible mentees to mentors Upon acceptance an e-mail connecting the mentee and mentor will be send out

- Mentor and mentee will agree on how often (minimum 2 times per year for 2 years) they will communicate and in what way

4. Each year an evaluation form for the program will be send out to the mentees and mentors

* HBA members will meet once per two months (in person and phone) to review the applications. Two HBA members will review each application and will give a score between 0-10. If a mentee take an average score ≥7 then he/she will be eligible for mentoring and the mentor of his/her preference will be contacted.

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

Structure

1. Create a list of potential mentors

Site: Mentoring page – List of mentors

2. Disseminate the program to Greek Institutes indicating that applications will be reviewed every three months

3. Review mentees’ applications* and assign eligible mentees to mentors

Upon acceptance an e-mail connecting the mentee and mentor will be send out - Mentor and mentee will agree on how often (minimum 2 times per year for 2 years) they will communicate and in what way

4. Each year an evaluation form for the program will be send out to the mentees and mentors

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

Main challenges

• Develop friendly web page & online platform

• Assess the qualifications of mentors and mentees

• Include mentors from different bioscientific backgrounds, academia

and industry

• Engage mentors on a volunteer basis

• Assess the quality/impact of the program

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

• Program Launch: just launched – the e-mail to the Greek Universities was sent on 12/03/2016 – already received 5 applications!

• Budget: Maintenance of the website and incorporation of tools that make the program run smoothly and A LOT of volunteering hours by the Board and HBA members

HBA-USA mentoring program site:http://www.hbausa.org/mentorship-program

HBA-USA Mentoring Program

Questions?

“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity” Hippocrates