Interdisciplinarity at the nexus of biomedical science training: The R3 Center for Innovation in Science Education

Ilinca I Ciubotariu¹, Tamaki Kobayashi¹, Crystal J Neely², Daniel Fiifi Tawia Hagan^{3

4}, David Ewusi-Mensah^{4

5}, David Van Vactor^{6

7}, Elizabeth C Whipple⁸, Emma Camacho¹, Gautam Ghosh⁹, Heather M Lamb¹, Isaac Owusu-Frimpong¹⁰, James Alltop⁹, Julia D Romano¹, Kristen Kelly¹⁰, Lindsay Smith Rogers¹¹, Lymari Morales¹¹, Matthew Seibel¹⁰, Roshni Rao², Soumia Bekka¹⁰, William T Mills 4th¹², Arturo Casadevall¹, Gundula Bosch¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, R Center for Innovation in Science Education, Baltimore, MD, USA.
² Doctoral and Postdoctoral Life Design, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
³ Department of Environment, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁴ Eco Amet Solutions Limited, Accra, Ghana.
⁵ Green Living Chats Podcast, Accra, Ghana.
⁶ Blavatnik Institute of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁷ Biological and Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁸ Informationist Services, Welch Medical Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁹ Ohio State Biochemistry Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹¹ Communications and Marketing, Office of External Affairs, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹² Department of Science, Mount St. Mary's University, Emmitsburg, MD, USA.

PMID: 40546960
PMCID: PMC12179609
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112735

Interdisciplinarity at the nexus of biomedical science training: The R3 Center for Innovation in Science Education

Ilinca I Ciubotariu et al. iScience. 2025.

. 2025 Jun 5;28(6):112735.

doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112735. eCollection 2025 Jun 20.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, R Center for Innovation in Science Education, Baltimore, MD, USA.
² Doctoral and Postdoctoral Life Design, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
³ Department of Environment, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
⁴ Eco Amet Solutions Limited, Accra, Ghana.
⁵ Green Living Chats Podcast, Accra, Ghana.
⁶ Blavatnik Institute of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁷ Biological and Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁸ Informationist Services, Welch Medical Library, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
⁹ Ohio State Biochemistry Program, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹¹ Communications and Marketing, Office of External Affairs, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
¹² Department of Science, Mount St. Mary's University, Emmitsburg, MD, USA.

PMID: 40546960
PMCID: PMC12179609
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2025.112735

Abstract

The R³ Center for Innovation in Science Education (R³ISE), established at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, addresses critical gaps in scientific education by instilling the core values of rigorous research, reproducible methods, and scientific responsibility in our students. Through graduate- and professional-level courses, certificate programs, workshops, and open-access resources, R³ISE fosters critical thinking, communication, leadership, and other skills essential for scientists. In this Backstory piece, faculty, students, alumni, and network partners reflect on their experiences with R³ISE, which were highlighted in the past year's annual symposium. In this symposium, themes such as ethical leadership, translating classroom theory into practice, and strategies to combat misinformation highlighted R³ISE sustained efforts and proposed further directions. These reflections exemplify how the R³ISE community continues to grow-fostering scientific integrity, resilience, and empathy within a global network committed to excellence and responsibility in the biomedical sciences.

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Figures

None — Above image: General graphical representation of the R3 Center for Innovation in Science Education's core values and impact.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Casadevall A. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; 2015. Put the “Ph” Back in PhD.https://magazine.publichealth.jhu.edu/2015/rethinking-put-the-ph-back-in...
1. Bosch G., Casadevall A. Graduate Biomedical Science Education Needs a New Philosophy. mBio. 2017;8:10–128. - PMC - PubMed
1. Alberts B., Kirschner M.W., Tilghman S., Varmus H. Rescuing US biomedical research from its systemic flaws. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 2014;111:5773–5777. - PMC - PubMed
1. Leshner A.I. Rethinking graduate education. Science. 2015;349:349. - PubMed
1. Kimble J., Bement W.M., Chang Q., Cox B.L., Drinkwater N.R., Gourse R.L., Hoskins A.A., Huttenlocher A., Kreeger P.K., Lambert P.F., et al. Strategies from UW-Madison for rescuing biomedical research in the US. eLife. 2015;4 - PMC - PubMed

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Interdisciplinarity at the nexus of biomedical science training: The R3 Center for Innovation in Science Education

Affiliations

Interdisciplinarity at the nexus of biomedical science training: The R3 Center for Innovation in Science Education

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

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References

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