Short-term Research Training Program for Minority Students

描述（由申请人提供）：西奈山医学院预防医学系建议为少数民族学生制定短期培训计划。该方案的目标是培养少数民族学生对科学和医学的兴趣，提高他们的研究能力，支持多学科教育，利用基于社区的战略减少心肺疾病，这在当地少数民族社区非常普遍。拟议的方案将建立在现有方案的基础上，该方案为少数民族学生提供环境健康科学研究培训，提供职业指导，并在方案完成后指导许多参与的学生实现其职业目标。现有的方案作为培训少数民族学生的典范得到了国家的承认，并得到了国家教育和卫生研究所15年来的持续支持。在由于资金流结束而取消NIEHS计划后，主要研究者寻求NHLBI的支持以继续该计划。这种过渡是无缝的，因为该计划已经非常关注社区环境中的呼吸系统疾病，这是主要研究者的专业领域。目前的提案建立在以前的计划的最有效的功能，并从部门的成员，其中许多人在社区和职业肺健康有很强的研究兴趣强大的机构支持计数。此外，该计划将通过与西奈山的其他教育计划合作来加强，这将使学生获得丰富的机会和职业选择。这将通过提供弥合学科之间差距的培训机会来实现。具体目标是：1）选择，培训和培养一个代表性不足的少数民族学生的干部，并激励和支持他们在追求健康领域的职业生涯;和2）提供学生谁在整个职业生涯的长度与长期的辅导和指导参与该计划。短期研究培训计划完全符合主要研究者目前指导的资助赠款组合，是西奈山预防医学系生活的一个组成部分。机构的支持是由教师和项目主任的持续承诺和参与证明。为不同教育水平的学生设立的其他相关培训方案也证明了这一点。该计划将导致20名少数民族学生在与社区和职业性肺病有关的健康科学方面的培训和指导。 公共卫生相关性：预防医学系在为少数民族学生提供短期培训和指导方面有着悠久的历史。在该计划的资金流结束后，该部门正在寻求继续支持少数民族学生，重新关注影响社区的呼吸系统疾病，如哮喘，以及职业引起的肺部疾病，如在世界贸易中心灾难期间暴露的工人中观察到的疾病。预计学生将更好地准备在完成该计划后从事健康研究的职业。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Department of Preventive Medicine of Mount Sinai School of Medicine proposes to develop the Short-term Training Program for Minority Students. The goal of the Program is to nurture minority students' interests in science and medicine by enhancing their research capacity in a way that supports multidisciplinary education using community-based strategies to reduce cardiopulmonary diseases, which are highly prevalent in local minority communities. The proposed program will build on an existing program that has provided training in environmental health sciences research for minority students, offered career mentoring and guided many participating students after the completion of the Program towards achieving their professional goals. The existing program received national recognition as a model for training minority students and had continued support from the NIEHS for 15 years. Upon cancellation of the NIEHS program due to end of the funding stream, the Principal Investigator seeks support from NHLBI to continue the program. This transition is seamless as the program already had a strong focus on respiratory disease in community settings, an area of expertise of the principal investigator. The current proposal builds on the most effective features of the previous program and counts with strong institutional support from members of the department, many of whom have strong research interests in community and occupational pulmonary health. In addition, the program will be enhanced by collaboration with other educational programs at Mount Sinai that will expose students to a wealth of opportunities and career options. This will be achieved by offering training opportunities that bridge the gaps between academic disciplines. Specific aims are: 1) To select, train and nurture a cadre of underrepresented minority students and to motivate and support them in pursuing careers in the health fields; and 2) To provide students who participate in the program with long-term mentoring and guidance throughout the length of their careers. The Short-term Research Training Program fits perfectly within the portfolio of funded grants that the Principal Investigator currently directs and is an integral part of the life of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Mount Sinai. Institutional support is evidenced by the continued commitment and participation of the faculty and program director. It is also evidenced by the creation of other related training programs that are available for students at different educational levels. The program will lead to the training and mentoring of 20 minority students in the health sciences related to community and occupationally-based pulmonary disease. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Department of Preventive Medicine has a long history of providing short-term training and mentoring for minority students. Upon the end of the funding stream for that program, the department is seeking to continue to support minority students by re-focusing the program on respiratory illness that affect communities, such as asthma, and occupationally-induced pulmonary diseases such as those observed in workers exposed during the World Trade Center disaster. It is expected that students will be better prepared to pursue careers in health research after the completion of this program.