Research Education and Career Horizons Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The REACH-UP IRACDA combines frontier level biomedical research and training to teach undergraduates in teaching partner institutions (TPI). Ongoing funding from MORE will permit post-docs to continue to combine research at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) with teaching at one of three (TPI) in Houston. Prairie View A& M University, St. Thomas University and the University of Houston Downtown. The salary and fringe benefits of post-docs will be paid by the grant for 36 months over a 4 year period. IRACDA will increase the supply of future faculty with frontier level research and teaching experience. The project includes a high level of UR post-docs providing role models for undergraduates. In only 4 years the post- docs have taught/co-taught 21 courses (three new courses) and used a variety of creative, interactive teaching strategies that are being adopted by faculty at their TPIs . Materials developed through this project are being made available through http://www.bcm.edu/diversityprograms/iracda. Post-doctoral fellows will be recruited to come to BCM to join the program or will be recruited from post- docs in the first two years of post-doc training. They will be engaged in research throughout the 4-year program. IRACDA post-docs have publication records that are comparable to other US post-docs. During the first 11/2 years of the program, they will establish their laboratory research; attend workshops on effective teaching strategies, minority health disparities and interacting with and mentoring undergraduates to enter biomedical Ph.D programs. At the beginning of the second year, post-docs will confer with undergraduate professors to select a partner campus base and two classes to teach during the second to fourth years of the program. In the second year, the fellows will observe faculty in a range of classes and will begin planning their lectures with incorporation of leading edge technology and knowledge. They will keep a journal of observations, which will be discussed with the program director to help them identify successful and less successful approaches to teaching and their own impressions of interacting with the students. During the second to fourth year of the program, the fellows will teach or co-teach a total of two classes introducing cutting-edge technology and knowledge into their teaching and active learning strategies that capitalize on electronic media. The post-docs will have time to maintain some research productivity while teaching. In the later years post-docs will continue research, complete manuscripts and apply for jobs. The post-docs will conduct an IRACDA Symposium with activities for undergraduates. The PI and post-docs will conduct city-wide workshops on applying to graduate school and serve as external advisors to students interested in biomedical Ph.D. study to capitalize on the interest generated in graduate education by the post-docs.