Development of Modules to Train Minority Undergraduate Students in Biomedical Research Expertise

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ABSTRACT Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) is a historically black institution located in Northeastern North Carolina (NENC), one of the most economically distressed regions of North Carolina. Due, in part, to the mission of ECSU and its rural setting, most of the student population originates from within the NENC region. An institutional self-study identified three major challenges in producing graduates competitive for PhD programs. These challenges are: (i) lack of academic role models for first-generation college freshman and student self-efficacy issues; (ii) achievement gaps in academics between Underrepresented Minority (URM) and majority students; and (iii) lack of skills in producing competitive PhD program applications. ECSU requests NIH/NIGMS support to continue its successful MARC U*STAR Training Program designed to impact the challenges for students to PhD pathway, especially for students in biomedical sciences, through the long-term goals of: (i) providing exceptional student research training; (ii) increasing academic support; and (iii) broadly impacting the ECSU community to promote student success with the ultimate goal of PhD degree matriculation. During the current period of support, we have made significant progress towards achieving these goals. The program supported 24 URM undergraduates in both on-campus and off-campus mentored research at such prestigious RO1 universities, like Vanderbilt and Duke, and provided academic and career counseling to these individuals toward competitive PhD application submissions. A notable 65% MARC supported students are making solid progress towards completing doctoral degrees and 90% of MARC scholars overall have completed their Bachelor’s degree and are pursuing PhD and post-Baccalaureate programs in advanced biomedical and related fields. These data are evidence that the ECSU MARC program is working, but also indicates the need for continued support to continue our successes and to improve the quality of the experience for new cohorts of trainees. To accomplish those goals, the specific aims of this competitive renewal are to build on the past successes by: (i) selecting scholars that possess excellent credentials and bona-fide desire to obtain PhDs; (ii) continuing to provide one-on-one mentorship in research and PhD application submissions that increases the likelihood of successful program acceptance; and (iii) provide institutional financial support alleviating students from the distraction and potential derailment of working external jobs while pursuing academics and research. The latter is important since many of our students are from families of high economic need.