Short Term Research Education Program to Increase Diversity in Health Research

描述(由申请人提供)：儿童医院奥克兰研究所(CHORI)是奥克兰儿童医院的研究机构，是旧金山湾区东部一家主要的医疗和公共卫生相关研究机构。奥克兰儿童医院为周围的县提供服务，这些县是非常多样化的人口的家园。CHORI的基础和临床研究在国际上是公认的。CHORI的临床和实验室调查人员致力于增加与健康相关的研究和卫生职业的多样性；少数群体的研究、教育和培训被视为CHORI努力实现这一目标的关键部分。在过去的十年里，NHLBI资助的夏季少数民族本科生研究计划(T35)为CHORI的15名少数民族学生提供了结构化的课程和研究培训机会。许多大学生也志愿参加这个教育项目，使每年夏天的学生总数达到40人。今年，在NHLBI的建议下，我们正在申请这个R25奖项，而不是寻求续签我们的T35。CHORI夏季研究计划的长期目标是增加基础和临床科学中代表性不足的少数群体的数量，并提供参与NHLBI任务区研究的机会。当前建议的具体目标是：(1)通过提供短期的指导性研究机会，使未被充分代表的本科生和医学与健康专业研究生获得基础、临床和社区生物医学研究的职业机会；(2)激发学生的兴趣，增加对少数群体健康和健康差距问题的接触；(3)鼓励过去的参与者继续参加该计划，以确保他们继续对基础或临床研究事业感兴趣；(4)让学生认识到增加少数族裔受试者参加临床试验的重要性，以及社区知情人士在增加入学人数方面的作用；(5)将每个学生与一名导师配对，后者将在实验室或临床环境中提供一对一的最新研究指导和培训；(6)提供对文化敏感的专业榜样；(7)与区域和国家层面的组织发展和培养伙伴关系和持续的关系，以确保我们实现这些目标。为达致这些目标，我们会在未来五年内，每年招收20名本科生和医疗/健康专业学生。我们将提供与NHLBI使命相关的临床和基础研究活动的短期接触，为期9周，从6月到8月。这些学生将从当地和全国范围内招收，目标是那些记录了大量代表不足的人口的地区。CHORI暑期研究计划为对CHORI的临床、基础和翻译研究感兴趣的学生提供了出色的资源。我们在一对一指导本科生和医疗/健康专业学生方面的经验，我们基础和临床研究人员对这一教育计划的承诺，以及我们成功招收、培训和激励来自代表性不足人群的学生的记录，使CHORI完全有资格获得这一奖项。 有大量证据表明，在招募临床试验受试者和治疗病人方面，有必要在生物医学研究和卫生专业中更广泛地纳入代表性不足的少数群体。CHORI的暑期研究计划将有助于鼓励这些群体的学生在这些领域追求职业生涯。(摘要结束)

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), the research arm of Children's Hospital Oakland, is a premier medical and public health-related research organization in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area. Children's Hospital Oakland serves the surrounding counties, which are home to very diverse populations. CHORI is recognized internationally for its basic and clinical research. The clinical and laboratory based investigators at CHORI are committed to the goal of increasing diversity in health-related research and the health professions; research education and training of minorities are viewed as a key part of CHORI's effort to achieve this goal. For the past ten years, a NHLBI-funded summer minority undergraduate research program (T35) provided a structured curriculum and research training opportunity for 15 minority students at CHORI. Many college students also volunteer for this educational program, bringing the total number of students to 40 each summer. This year, on the advice of NHLBI, we are applying for this R25 award in lieu of seeking to renew our T35. The long-term goal of the CHORI Summer Research Program is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in the basic and clinical sciences and provide opportunities to participate in research in NHLBI mission areas. The specific objectives of the current proposal are to: (1) Interest, encourage, and expose underrepresented undergraduate students and medical and health professional graduate students to career opportunities in basic, clinical and community-based biomedical research by offering short-term mentored research opportunities; (2) Stimulate students' interests and enhance exposure to minority health and health disparity issues; (3) Encourage past participants to continue to participate in the program to ensure their continued interest in pursuing careers in either basic or clinical research; (4) Inform students about the importance of increasing the number of minority subjects enrolled in clinical trials and the role of informed members of the community in increasing enrollments; (5) Pair each student with a mentor, who will provide a one-on-one mentorship and training in state-of-the-art research in a laboratory or clinical setting; (6) Provide culturally sensitive professional role models; (7) Develop and foster partnerships and sustained relationships with organizations at the regional and national level to ensure that we achieve these goals. Towards accomplishing these objectives, we will recruit 20 undergraduate and medical/health professional students each year for the next five years. We will provide short-term exposure to clinical and basic research activities of relevance to the mission of NHLBI for a 9-week period between June and August. The students will be recruited both from local areas and from across the nation, targeting areas that have documented large numbers of underrepresented populations. The CHORI Summer Research Program offers outstanding resources to students interested in clinical, basic and translational research at CHORI. Our experience in one-on-one mentoring of undergraduates and medical/health professional students, the commitment of our basic and clinical researchers to this education program, and our track record of successfully recruiting, training, and motivating students from underrepresented populations make CHORI well-qualified to receive this award. There is abundance evidence of the need for broader inclusion of underrepresented minorities in biomedical research and the health professions, both for recruiting subjects for clinical trials and treating patients. The Summer Research program at CHORI will aid efforts to encourage students from these populations to pursue careers in these fields. (End of Abstract)