San Francisco State University-MBRS-RISE Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the MBRS-RISE program is to increase the interest, skills, and competitiveness of students and faculty in pursuit of biomedical research careers. The goal of our proposed RISE program is to increase significantly the number of minority students pursuing biomedical careers by involving them in a number of curricular, research and co-curricular activities. The MBRS-SCORE and several other programs at SFSU have been successful in attracting, developing and promoting minority faculty, all of who are active in training RISE students. SFSU enrolls large numbers of underrepresented minority students, with strong enrollment in each major ethnic category, and has an outstanding record of awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees to these students. A significant number have gone on to enter biomedical research at the bachelor's, master's and doctoral level. While the large majority of our RISE graduates enter Ph.D. degree programs, others enter medical, dental, and veterinary schools. San Francisco State University (SFSU) has a proven commitment to preparing minority students for Ph.D. programs and biomedical careers and has developed a number of minority-focused enhancement programs in the biomedical sciences. We have identified a number of barriers which these undergraduate and graduate minority students face in meeting their goals for a future in the biomedical sciences. Continued funding of the MBRS-RISE program at SFSU will allow us, in combination with our other funded programs (e.g., MARC, M.A.-M.S./Ph.D. Bridges, SCORE, RIMI, SFSU/UCSF Cancer Center Collaborative), to provide the infrastructure and activities necessary to help significant numbers of students overcome these barriers. A set of well-defined and logically ordered activities have been developed to meet the specific needs of students at various stages of their careers (lower division pre-research, upper division research active, and master's degree students). Each activity addresses the following needs: (1) achievement of academic program, (2) academic performance, (3) development of scientific and research skills and abilities, and (4) preparation for acceptance into a Ph.D. program. The outcomes of these activities will be critically evaluated and reasonable adjustments made during the term of the grant to assure that our goals and objectives are met. A review of the summative evaluations for the past 4 years of our current RISE grant indicates our efforts have been very successful. At least 30 RISE undergraduates have entered graduate and professional schools in the past 4 years. We have also placed 35 RISE graduate (master's) students into Ph.D. programs during the first 3 years of the current RISE grant (10 in 2004, 10 in 2005 and 15 in 2006). Currently, 10 graduate (M.A.-M.S./Ph.D.) and 10 senior RISE students plan to apply for admission into Ph.D. programs during 2006 for fall 2007 matriculation.