Dr. Caleb C. McKinney is an associate professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Associate Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Training & Development for Biomedical Graduate Education (BGE), and Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Master’s Program Administration and Development at Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC). As AVP, Dr. McKinney leads the BGE masters and certificate program portfolio, and has oversight across broad academic and operational functional areas that span the student life cycle from prospect to graduate.  As Associate Dean, his offices support all BGE graduate programs and provide marketing, outreach and recruitment, career development, and training grant support. Dr. McKinney is a steadfast advocate for student and postdoc led initiatives, and his office provides administrative support to the Medical Center Graduate Student Organization and the Georgetown University Postdoctoral Association. Dr. McKinney also serves as Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), having previously served as Treasurer and Chair of Finance, and as a Diversity Officer for the NPA. 

Dr. McKinney is also a principal investigator (MPI) and co-director of the NIH/NIGMS-funded Georgetown University Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD), a predoctoral T32 training program that provides interprofessional and interdisciplinary training and student development activities focused on enhancing biomedical workforce diversity. He was previously funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to design and implement the Academy for Transferable Management Skills program, an online training program in project management principles for PhD students and postdoctoral fellows. Lastly, as a former GUMC co-investigator for the NIH-funded Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity (AIM-AHEAD) Data Science Training Core, he designed programs for academic and community stakeholders to build workforce development initiatives that curate a pipeline of diverse individuals into data science research focused on mitigating health disparities.

Dr. McKinney graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in applied economics and management. He then completed his doctorate degree in microbiology from New York University, a Master’s in Professional Studies in design management and communications at Georgetown University, and the Harvard Macy Program for Educators in the Health Professions.

Keynote address: "Advancing your career through connection and community"

The postdoctoral training period is an exciting time to develop important skills, showcase discipline expertise, and gain career clarity. But there are also many challenges that postdocs have to navigate to reduce isolation, strengthen their mentoring relationships, and accomplish their career goals. Dr. Caleb McKinney will reflect on his experiences supporting postdocs locally through his roles at Georgetown University, and nationally through his volunteer service with the National Postdoctoral Association to explore the various ways to leverage shared community for personal and professional development