LEAPP: Lead, Energize, Accelerate, Prepare, Propel.

LEAD the way in integrating knowledge of host and microbe biology

• Strategic faculty recruiting at the host:microbe interface, emphasize hires who aspire to state-of-the-art cross-disciplinary investigative approaches.
• Organize regular mini-symposia/thinktanks, to bring together expertise across disciplines, identify conceptual themes, areas of opportunity that build on existing conceptual and technical strengths. Identify areas for strategic recruitments that will fill in “gaps”.
• Foster collaboration by providing support and incentives for multi-investigator grant applications and cross-disciplinary training grants.

ENERGIZE scientific exchange and education

• Promote department-wide opportunities for scientific exchange.
• Organize department-led multidisciplinary symposia to facilitate cross campus(s) exchange of ideas.
• Celebrate trainee and faculty achievements.
• Champion a diverse culture of respect, equity and inclusion.
• Educate our educators: methods that advance knowledge integration and promote critical thinking.
• Promote community engagement at the local and national level. Participate in the national dialogue around science and education policy and sponsor outreach events, public lectures, and science communication efforts.

ACCELERATE new discovery and innovation

• Invest in advanced technologies for temporal and spatial resolution at the host:microbe interface.
• Build on and synergize with Cornell’s strengths: single cell/spatial transcriptomics, intravital multiphoton imaging, proteomics, chemical biology, computational science.
• Translate basic mechanistic knowledge into new therapeutics and preventions.
• Capitalize on the unique opportunity in the vet school to apply new technologies to novel animal models to advance pathogenic insight and develop new treatments for current & emerging diseases.

PREPARE for a changing microbial landscape

• Leverage existing strengths in microbiology and immunology to rapidly identify, characterize, and develop strategies to mitigate emerging infectious diseases that threaten human and animal health.
• Address the challenges of antibiotic resistance through the development of alternative antimicrobial treatments, promoting an emphasis on stewardship and thoughtful use of antibiotics.
• Embrace One Health concept, that human health is intertwined with animal and environmental health.

PROPEL trainee and faculty excellence

Trainees

• Individualized career development, provide mentorship and resources to help early career scientists succeed and become future leaders in academic, government and biotechnology professions.
• Provide workshops for F and K awards, and veterinary-scientist training award mechanisms.
• Training for current/future ‘omics’-based research – have all our trainees gain the basic computational skills needed to analyze ‘big data’ and incorporate approaches into their research questions.
• Develop a Postdoctoral Fellowship Program that promotes future science leaders - to enrich postdoc opportunities and enhance recruitment of top postdoc talent.

Faculty

• Enhance grant success. 2-tiered internal support: Level 1, strategic design of specific aims; Level 2 review of full written proposal prior to submission to hone execution and communication of ideas.
• Increase nominations of our faculty for National and International Awards.
• Increase faculty visibility at conferences, study sections, societies, and in national/international leadership roles.
• Offer leadership training and opportunities for faculty (and staff) to develop their management, communication, and strategic planning skills.