Carol Bascom-Slack

Dr. Carol Bascom-Slack is a Research Assistant Professor in Medical Education at the Tufts University School of Medicine, with a PhD from Tufts University (1997) and postdoctoral training in Developmental Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. Her work bridges medical education and environmental microbiology, focusing on antibiotic resistance surveillance and evidence-based teaching practices. She pioneered the PARE Project, engaging thousands of students in environmental AMR research, and studies faculty barriers to adopting course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). Her grants include NSF-funded initiatives to expand CURE programs and high-school partnerships.

Key research areas include: 1) Environmental surveillance of antibiotic-resistant microbes, 2) STEM education innovation, and 3) Social science analysis of pedagogical adoption. She has presented at major conferences (ASM, CUREnet) and authored over 25 peer-reviewed papers. Notable recognition includes the American Society for Microbiology's President’s Forum Award. Dr. Bascom-Slack collaborates with global networks like Tiny Earth and Small World Initiative, advancing both scientific discovery and educational equity.

Her lab teams include interdisciplinary collaborators across universities and K-12 institutions, emphasizing student-driven research as a tool for scientific literacy and career development. Current efforts focus on longitudinal studies tracking CURE adoption patterns and developing scalable assessment tools for educational interventions.