To build research capacity for early-career socio-behavioral faculty conducting HIV/STI research in underserved communities and to enhance diversity in the scientific workforce, we conduct a training program for visiting professors (VPs), started in 1996.  In this intensive research education and mentoring program, VPs are in residence at the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) for six weeks for three consecutive summers.  Crucial features of the program include funding to conduct pilot studies and joint commitment of mentors and VPs to immerse themselves in formal seminars, one-on-one mentoring meetings, and protected writing time. Guided by Entrepreneurial Developmental Network Structures (EDNS) and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), we developed a team mentoring approach that goes beyond the classical dyadic mentor-mentee pairing while retaining the advantages of a single “go to” mentor to help synthesize feedback from multiple mentors and fellow VPs.  The diversity of mentors and VPs enhance problem-solving capacities and options by increasing the breadth of knowledge, skills, and available contacts. Mentors and VPs collaborate to identify career goals and implement the steps by which broad theoretically-driven research ideas are refined into feasible projects. Data are analyzed for conference presentations, publications, and preliminary data for grant proposals. VPs are guided through the process with rigorous yet self-affirming feedback designed to simultaneously teach grant-writing and research skills.  These efforts have resulted in 55 VPs securing over $160 million to conduct significant studies, publishing over 640 articles, launching innovative programs of HIV/STI prevention research, and establishing themselves as independent investigators.