UAB Blazer BRAIN (Broadening Representation And Inclusion in Neuroscience) Summer Program

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PROJECT ABSTRACT We seek NINDS R25 funding for the Blazer BRAIN (Broadening Representation And Inclusion in Neuroscience) Program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Although the number of U.S. citizens from underrepresented minority (URM) groups earning doctoral degrees in science has increased over the past decade, URMs continue to represent a small proportion of the scientists in the United States. Our UAB Blazer BRAIN Program is a summer research experience that targets the obstacles impeding success with the goal of increasing the number of trainees from diverse backgrounds in neuroscience research. We will recruit talented undergraduates from our five partner HBCU institutions in AL, and nationally with a focus on the southeast region. We aim to expose Blazer BRAIN undergraduate Scholars to research on the healthy nervous system and neurological disease at UAB in laboratories of our federally funded faculty mentors. With continued investment in Neuroscience at UAB by the School of Medicine and the Comprehensive Neuroscience Center, the future of the Blazer BRAIN program is secure, and Scholars will benefit from the vibrant neuroscience environment at UAB that currently exceeds $60M in NIH funding, with approximately $24M of that from NINDS. The Blazer BRAIN Program will include career advising by the Program directors and research faculty mentors. In addition, the Blazer BRAIN Program will partner with the NIH R25-funded UAB Roadmap Scholars (RMS) Program, which also aims to promote diversity in neuroscience research but at the graduate level, by matching Blazer BRAIN Scholars with RMS Aspirational Mentors (RAMs), to allow our Scholars to “see themselves” as scientists in biomedical research careers. Blazer BRAIN Scholars will also be invited to attend the RMS NEURAL conference, held every summer at UAB. Other value-added components of the Blazer BRAIN Program include learning from their mentors about careers and work life balance as a neuroscientist at a major biomedical research university; improvement of scientific communication skills; opportunities to present research at a regional (UAB Summer Research EXPO) and national (ABRCMS, SACNAS or SfN) meeting; and assistance in preparing applications for graduate school. Our primary goal for the initial funding period is to demonstrate minimum 60% acceptance rate of Blazer BRAIN Scholars to PhD Programs. A rigorous evaluation plan is place with metrics designed to achieve this success, with input to be received from Blazer BRAIN Scholars, mentors, and internal and external advisory committees. If successful, the UAB Blazer BRAIN Program will increase diversity in neuroscience research, and in turn promote the development of a richly diverse workforce in the biomedical sciences.