Enhancing Student Diversity in Drug Addiction Research

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DESCRIPTION: The profound detrimental impact to society from individuals abusing drugs is well established. To meet the challenge of developing new and effective treatments to help those that have succumbed to the temptation of drug use and abuse, we need to inspire the next generation of students to pursue research careers in the field. The need is particularly acute among populations of students who are currently underrepresented in the field of drug abuse. Published analyses indicate that exposing undergraduate students, especially early in their career, to laboratory research is an extremely effective way for developing their interest in research as a profession. Since 1989, the University of Minnesota of has recognized and met this challenge by offering summer residential research programs in the biomedical sciences. This proposal is to fund a drug abuse component to these summer programs in which we will train five undergraduate students who have completed their freshman or sophomore years in college. We will recruit students nationally, focusing on students from groups that are underrepresented within the biomedical research profession. We will provide them with a 10-week intensive research experience that will include professional mentoring (academic survival skills and preparation for graduate school) as well as workshops on research ethics. Our goal is to inspire a new generation of drug abuse researchers. In turn, we expect these individuals to become part of the research infrastructure dedicated to solving medical problems of nervous system dysfunction