Minority Program for Society of Toxicology Meeting

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Society of Toxicology's Undergraduate Education Program for Minority Students will include 30 undergraduate students and 5 faculty advisors from groups that are underrepresented in the sciences. The number of minority students pursuing graduate school in the sciences is far from parity with their proportion among the US population, and the Society of Toxicology strongly supports efforts to increase the diversity of the scientific workforce. Selected from a national pool of applicants, these students and advisors will receive travel support and participate in a 2.5-day program March 22-24, 2014, in Phoenix, AZ, in conjunction with the Society of Toxicology (SOT) Annual Meeting. The aims of this program are to 1) increase awareness of undergraduate students majoring in science and science advisors at undergraduate institutions about career choices and opportunities in toxicology and 2) increase interest of undergraduate students in graduate biomedical education and motivate students to obtain research experience especially that pertinent to toxicology. Participants will hear specially selected lectures from toxicologists whose work exemplifies high profile diverse research interests, participate in research poster sessions, and meet with academic program directors and internship sponsors. Participants are assigned to small groups, composed of graduate student peer mentors and toxicologist host-mentors who provide informal interaction and mentoring during the presentations, posters, and other sessions. Potential career choices after the Ph.D. are examined in a panel discussion featuring toxicologists who share their experiences in different employment sectors (academia, government, and industry). The program is based on the experience from, and evaluation and refinement of, activities across the 24-year history of the Undergraduate Education Program.