INBRE: SOUTH CAROLINA STATE U: FACULTY AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. SC State University (SCSU) is one of 12 senior public post-secondary educational institutions in South Carolina and the state's only Historically Black public four-year university. Approximately 93% of the student population is African American. The university is a land-grant, co-educational, comprehensive, teaching institution that confers the baccalaureate, master's, educational specialist, and doctoral degrees to the 4,500  5,000 student population, including 124 undergraduate STEM students graduating in 2007-2008. The University embraces the concept that strong programs of research and other creative endeavors provide the basis for strong programmatic and administrative infrastructures. At SCSU, SC-INBRE will build much needed research capacity in emerging Biomedical fields, by providing the means to develop two target faculty in the Biomedical Sciences, including a new hire, Dr. Saku Greene. Participation in INBRE will also substantially increase the pool of minority students better prepared to pursue degrees and careers in biomedical and bioinformatics research. The College of Science, Mathematics and Engineering Technology also provides a significant contingent of undergraduate researchers through programs like the Louis Stokes South Carolina Alliance for Minority Participation Program (LS-SCAMP) and the HBCU-UP's program--all NSF supported initiatives. Currently, the state LS-SCAMP produces 70% of South Carolina's minority STEM undergraduate degrees. South Carolina State University has the largest LS-SCAMP enrollment. On the average, 120 students participate in summer research annually because of the efforts of LS-SCAMP and HBCU-UPS. It is significant to note that 80% of students involved in LS SCAMP go on to continue graduate studies in a STEM area. While many of these students gain biomedical experience through their internships, very few gain that experience at South Carolina State University. We propose to significantly increase the number of minority undergraduates who are well trained in biomedical research at South Carolina State University as the institution continues to build its research capacity. We predict that a large percentage of these students will remain in the state to pursue graduate degrees from the state's PhD granting institutions and establish successful careers as research scientists. Currently, there are 380 biology and chemistry majors in the department. This guarantees a large pool of students to recruit for participation in the INBRE program. A total of 50 students will be provided with expertise in cutting-edge biomedical techniques over the 5 year project period. To further familiarize students with biomedical research, an INBRE Biomedical Seminar series will also be established. During the academic year, INBRE mentors and other distinguished research scientists from the University of South Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth University and other INBRE research universities will be invited to SCSU as seminar speakers. It is anticipated that additional collaborations will develop from these relationships with INBRE scientists such as guest lecturers in courses in the newly proposed Biotechnology Track and new research initiatives. During the summer, the INBRE Summer Biomedical Seminar series will be established and will require that students meet weekly to discuss recently published biomedical articles. Funding is requested to increase the number of students who present at biomedical research conferences within the state as well as nationally. A Biotechnology option in the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences is proposed. Currently, there are 16 bio-medically-related courses in the Biology, Chemistry and Physics areas. However, there is no defined core sequence or biotechnology track for students interested in pursuing biomedicine. The proposed Biotechnology option will add 4 new bio-medically-focused courses to the existing courses. New courses include: Molecular and Biomedical Techniques, Research in Molecular and Biomedical Science, Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Cellular and Molecular Biology II and an Ethics in Bio-technology course. Each semester, INBRE target faculty, guest lecturers from partner institutions will be responsible for teaching at least one of the courses that comprise this new Biotechnology Track.