The Maine Biomedical Research Network (INBRE)

The Maine Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) is a statewide collaborative program led by the MDI Biological Laboratory and supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health.

Maine INBRE is designed to strengthen Maine’s capacity to conduct competitive biomedical research through coordinated investments in people, faculty, and infrastructure. The network brings together a broad set of Maine educational and research institutions, including Bates College, Bowdoin College, Colby College, College of the Atlantic, The Jackson Laboratory, Southern Maine Community College, the University of Maine system campuses at Farmington, Fort Kent, Machias, and Presque Isle, and the University of New England.

This consortium is organized to achieve three interconnected goals. First, Maine INBRE focuses on creating a technically skilled workforce in Maine by providing biomedical research training for undergraduates. Through mentored research experiences, students gain hands-on laboratory skills in areas such as molecular biology, physiology, and bioinformatics, and engage with functional genomics research using comparative model organisms. Second, the program provides research support to early-career faculty, enhancing their competitiveness for federal biomedical research grants, particularly from the NIH. By offering resources and collaborative opportunities, INBRE helps young investigators build research programs and progress toward independent funding. Third, INBRE improves research infrastructure across participating institutions by developing a collaborative network of core facilities equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation. This shared-resources approach expands access to essential technologies and fosters collaboration across the state’s research community.

A flagship educational component of the network is the INBRE Summer Research Fellowship (SURF) program. SURF provides undergraduate students with a mentored, hands-on biomedical research experience at one of the participating institutions. Students work in the laboratory of an investigator on an independent project designed by the student and mentor, developing laboratory techniques and investigating research questions in functional genomics. The program makes use of a variety of comparative models—zebrafish, fruit flies, axolotl, and C. elegans are cited as examples—allowing students to explore diverse experimental systems. The summer experience culminates in a student symposium at the MDI Biological Laboratory, where participants present their research results to peers and faculty from around the state, fostering communication skills and scientific exchange.

Maine INBRE aims to become a statewide engine for workforce development, faculty research advancement and shared infrastructural growth, organized to strengthen the long-term biomedical research capacity of Maine’s institutions and researchers.