San Diego PREP Scholars Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): San Diego State University (SDSU) and University of California San Diego (UCSD) propose a joint Post Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP). The program will be administered by SDSU and will initially involve the Cell & Molecular Biology group (13 professors) of SDSU and the cell & molecular biologists (30 professors) from the UCSD-Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. Program at the School of Medicine. Students (10 per year) will be recruited from the various research/training programs at both institutions. The immediate goal is to increase the number of under-represented applicants accepted to the Ph.D. and M.D./Ph.D. programs in basic biomedical sciences both at SDSU-UCSD and nationally. The longer-term goal is to increase the number of under-represented minority scientists in faculty positions at research universities. We propose to achieve these goals by focusing on the following specific aims: 1) Annually to accept 10 underrepresented recent college graduates to enter training as salaried entry-level laboratory technicians for a two-year program that emphasizes mentoring of trainees by practicing biomedical scientists. 2) To provide strong coursework to all trainees, including (year 1) development of writing and speaking skills, ethical issues in biomedical research, and GRE preparation and (year 2) preparation and submission of applications to graduate school, bio-statistics, journal club, and seminars, with monthly group meeting with PI and coordinator throughout. 3 ) To have each 1st year trainee attend a national scientific meeting with the mentor. 4) To have each 2nd year trainee attend a national scientific meeting as a presenter (poster session), accompanied by the mentor. 5 ) To have each student prepare and submit for publication a scientific paper by the end of the second year. 6) To have each student accepted into a Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. training program in the biomedical sciences. 7) To provide a program that develops the portfolios and critical thinking skills of minority students so that they will be competitive for any graduate program in biomedical sciences. An external Advisory Board will assess the entire Program annually. The unique character of this PREP program derives from the combination of the strengths of two neighboring campuses that have joint Graduate programs as well as minority research/training programs; the focus on research and communication of data; and the participation of strong faculty who are involved in Ph.D. education.