Increasing Diversity in Experiential Research Education at Michigan State University

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Project Summary/Abstract Population-specific differences in the presence of disease, health outcomes, or access to healthcare are termed “health disparities” and they are a significant concern in our society. Lack of representation of the underserved groups—which includes minorities, financially disadvantaged, and disabled individuals—in the biomedical research and healthcare workforce has been identified as a critical factor underlying health disparities. Indeed, disparities in the demographics of individuals entering careers in biomedical research are well documented. Biomedical knowledge and healthcare will benefit from broader inclusion of underrepresented individuals engaged in biomedical research as inclusive research teams have broader perspectives in setting research agendas, can more effectively recruit diverse subjects into clinical research studies, and work more effectively to deliver healthcare and reduce health disparities. Experiential learning by active engagement in research is an effective way to nurture the next generation of scientists and health care researchers. Veterinarians conduct research important to human health through comparative studies and animal models; unfortunately the racial and ethnic diversity in the veterinary profession is no better than that of the biomedical research workforce in general. Thus, this proposal is designed to recruit and comprehensively immerse both undergraduate and veterinary medical students from underrepresented groups in summer research experiences on the campus of Michigan State University. These research experiences will be focused on three major areas: hypertension, airway disease and blood cells and components in tissue pathology. The objective of our education research program is to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups who pursue biomedical research-related educational goals and career paths relevant to the mission areas of the NHLBI. The strategy to meet this objective involves 1) providing student participants an immersive research experience that exposes them to the various aspects of a research career, 2) cultivating participants' science identity by facilitating the development of mentor and peer networks, and creating a community that supports the participants' research-related interests, and 3) fostering the participants' successes so as to give them the confidence needed to pursue a research-related career. This strategy will be implemented through the following specific aims: (1) engage undergraduate and veterinary medical students in high-quality mentored research in the areas of heart, lung, and blood diseases; (2) provide comprehensive exposure to the various aspects of biomedical research through an organized program of activities; (3) bolster the trainees' understanding of the critical concepts of responsible conduct of research; (4) recruit trainees from populations underrepresented in the biomedical sciences; and (5) conduct comprehensive evaluations to determine the effectiveness of our programming in enhancing diversity in health-related biomedical research.