Postdoctoral fellows are one of the backbones of translational research. Already entrusted to independently work on multiple projects, and sometimes serve as de facto lab managers, postdoctoral fellows account for a large percentage of publications and are often responsible for moving the objectives of the lab. However, postdoctoral progress is often lost in the daily grind of research, and their career and professional development is not always consistently tracked to gauge programs that are geared to develop postdoctoral fellows. The Office of Graduate Studies and Trainee Affairs (OGSTA) of Houston Methodist proposes a synergy between the use of custom APIs from networking sources such as ORCiD (Open Researcher Contributor ID) and the use of the individual development plans (IDPs) to serve the needs of postdoctoral fellows and associates. The goal is to them to develop and move their career paths, and gauge necessary adjustments to appropriate programs. This would provide insight to administrators on how to best serve the needs of postdoctoral fellows.
