BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH ABROAD: VISTAS OPEN! (BRAVO!)

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted From Application): The applicant seeks support for a four-year continuation of a program under a new P.I. The program is exceptional and novel in its form and success. This innovative program at the University of Arizona (UA) is termed the Biomedical Research Abroad: Vistas Open Program (BRAVO!/MIRT) and is designed to prepare minority students under-represented in the sciences enabling them to conduct research projects in diffuse locations abroad that build upon the research they do at UA. Student projects span a broad range of disciplines. All are related to biomedical or behavioral research that have a connection to health problems that in one way or another affect under-served groups in the US or abroad. The BRAVO!/MIRT activities are integrated into UA's Undergraduate Biology Research Program (UBRP). The international experience is a part of a research experience-continuum that begins in the first two years of college and continues after their return. This embeds the international experience into the students' education, maximizing its benefits. Of the 43 trainees in the program from 93-99, three students have received their doctoral degrees, four have received masters, two have received MD degrees, and 27 have received bachelor's degrees. Eight are still in medical school; 13 are in graduate school, seven are in research-related positions while applying to graduate or medical school, and eight are current undergraduates. The majority of MIRT student trainees have been female (53%) and Hispanic (76%). The program is meeting its goal of increasing the number of minority scientists conducting biomedical and behavioral research and preparing them to be part of the international scientific community.