Case Western Reserve University
Grant: $39,547 - National Institutes of Health - Sep. 25, 2009
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Award Description: A major challenge for the scientific community is to increase the participation of underrepresented minority students in biomedical research and subsequent leadership in the professoriate. For example, less than 10% of students in Case SOM biomedical PhD programs come from underrepresented minorities (URMs), and 2% of our full time faculty are URM. To address this need, this proposal is designed to prepare underrepresented minority students who hold a recent baccalaureate degree with additional research training, coursework and student development to successfully transition into biomedical doctoral programs. This proposal requests funds to support 12 students per year (six in the first year) to engage in research in biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology and microbiology, neuroscience, nutrition, pathology, pharmacology or physiology and biophysics. The program will coordinate the expertise of the faculty in an integrated postgraduate training program. Participating faculty mentors all have active and well-funded research programs that contribute to a lively and stimulating scientific environment. In addition to one-two years laboratory experience, students will complete academic coursework to augment their quantitative and biomedical foundation and acquire professional presentation skills. Further, students will have direct tutoring in standardized test preparation and assistance in the preparation of graduate school applications. The participating mentors are located at Case School of Medicine and already interact in the training of graduate students throughout our interdisciplinary PhD programs. The Institution has demonstrated continued success in attracting underrepresented minority students into our medical programs, and will focus that experience now in increasing minority matriculation into graduate programs. Students will be recruited from a national pool of applicants using comprehensive recruitment strategies. Each aim is associated with measurable outcomes that assay science interest, matriculation into graduate and other programs, changes in standardized tests as well as information about program efficacy. This combination of interventions is designed to convey the excitement and culture of scientific research along with the academic and programmatic preparation to students and prepare them to transition to graduate school and a biomedical research career.
Project Description: The parent grant includes activities to 1) Socialize scholars to research and scientific achievement with a core experience in the laboratory as a laboratory technician, 2) Improve scholars’ academic preparation and accomplishment by completing one graded course per semester in graduate mathematics, chemistry, biology or physics to augment or enhance academic preparation for graduate study, 3) Provide a foundation for student success by connecting PREP scholars with other students, faculty, organizations and programs in the larger CWRU community, and 4) Enhance professional development, technology and communication skills. This is an appropriate and well-described plan to accomplish the goals within the timeframe proposed. These research/scientific activities proposed will be accomplished within the current competitive segment (9/09-7/10). Measurable outcomes include scholar matriculation at Case and other highly competitive graduate programs, improved indicators of science attitudes and research accomplishment, coursework grades and test scores, and increases in institutional diversity. Our goal over a four-year period is that 75% of PREP scholars enroll in a PhD program and that 80% ultimately complete the PhD degree.
Jobs Summary: 1 Full-time Research Technician job will be created. This new job will be created for a qualified applicant to the Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program. This will support a qualified Postbaccalaureate in his/her core one-year mentored research apprenticeship in PREP at Case. PREP provides strong training in the practice and culture of science; in addition to bench research, it offers its employees graduate level coursework and significant programming to strengthen academic preparation and increase communication skills as preparation for entrance into a biomedical PhD graduate program and eventual career in biomedical research. This new job will be filled by an individual who adds diversity to the biomedical workforce. 0.08 of a full-time Web Technician job will be maintained. This position supports the Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program's application process and Scholar support mechanism, the Scholar's Hub. (Total jobs reported: 0)
Project Status: Not Started
This award's data was last updated on Sep. 25, 2009. Help expand these official descriptions using the wiki below.
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