Genomics Scholar Program

描述（由申请人提供）：几十年来，对更多科学家和工程师的呼吁一直在持续。虽然在这方面取得了长足的进步，但来自几个人口群体的个人在科学和工程领域的代表性仍然不足。2007年，在科学和工程博士学位中，代表性不足的少数民族占11%，亚洲人/太平洋岛民占10%，分别高于1989年的5%和6%。然而，与美国人口相比，这一比例极低，少数民族占总人口的35%以上，这表明少数民族确实需要更多地参与教育管道的各个环节。两个关键的过渡点是从两年制社区学院到四年制学士学位完成者学院和从四年制学院到硕士课程的飞跃。该J.克雷格文特尔研究所（JCVI）提出了一个过渡计划，重点是第一次飞跃使用的活动，包括本科生的研究经验与指导和专业发展的组合。基因组学学者计划（GSP）将重点关注社区大学代表性不足的少数民族学生，为他们进入四年制学校做好准备。这将通过实施过渡计划的最佳实践来实现，如马里兰州巴尔的摩县（UMBC）迈耶霍夫学者计划，联合黑人学院基金默克科学倡议，和加州大学戴维斯分校（UCD），生物本科学者计划（BUSP）。我们的计划将通过多年的研究经验与主要研究者作为导师，并由JCVI提供补充专业发展为学生提供支持的多种途径。此外，被选中的学生将有机会参加本科少数民族研究会议，这将使他们接触到研究和计划的各个方面。GSP的目标是：让贫困，多样化和学术弱势的本科生参与基因组研究;并指导一批有竞争力申请四年制学士学位完成者学院的社区学院本科生。拟议的GSP将直接与主要研究者对NIDDK资助的多年期1型糖尿病（T1 D）影响项目（资助编号：1 DP 3 DK 94343 - 01; 2011-2015）的科学重点保持一致，该项目使用基因组技术了解宿主肠道微生物组对T1 D疾病发作的影响。在将研究员纳入实验室研究团队的同时，将根据他们的能力和兴趣以及导师对NIDDK-T1 D项目的科学关注来开发个人研究经验。在支持T1 D项目的总体目标的同时，研究员将有机会直接使用通过该项目生成的“组学”数据。在JCVI实习期间，我们建议让研究员参与JCVI运营的研究和教育计划组合内的各种研究活动。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The call for more scientists and engineers has been ongoing for decades. Though there have been strides made in this effort, individuals from several population groups are still under-represented in the Science and Engineering fields. Under-represented minorities earned 11% and Asians/Pacific Islanders earned 10% of the Science and Engineering doctorates in 2007, up from 5% and 6%, respectively, in 1989. However, this representation is extremely low compared to the U.S. population where minorities represent over 35% of the general population demonstrating that there is a definite need for greater participation by minorities at all points of the educational pipeline. Two transition point that are crucial are the leaps from two-year community colleges into four-year baccalaureate completer colleges and from four-year colleges to masters programs. The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) proposes a transition program focusing on the first leap using a combination of activities including undergraduate research experience with mentoring and professional development. The Genomics Scholars Program (GSP) will focus on community college under-represented minority students to prepare them to enter four-year school. This will be accomplished by implementing the best practices of transition programs such as the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Meyerhoff Scholars Program, United Negro College Fund-Merck Science Initiative, and the University of California, Davis (UCD), Biology Undergraduate Scholars Program (BUSP). Our program will incorporate multiple avenues of support for students through a multi-year research experience with the Principal Investigators as mentors, and supplemental professional development provided by the JCVI. Additionally, selected students will have the opportunity to participate in undergraduate minority research conferences, which will expose them to various aspects of research and programs. The goals of the GSP are to: engage underprivileged, diverse and academically vulnerable undergraduate students in genomic research; and to mentor a pool of community college undergraduates that are competitive to apply to four-year baccalaureate completer colleges. The proposed GSP will align directly with the Principal Investigator's scientific focus on the multi-year NIDDK funded Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) impact project (Grant Number: 1 DP3 DK 94343 - 01; 2011-2015) understanding the impact of the host gut microbiome on T1D disease onset using genomic techniques. While integrating the Fellows into the laboratory research team, individual research experience will be developed based on their abilities and interest as well as the mentor's scientific focus on the NIDDK-T1D project. While supporting the overall aim of the T1D project, Fellows will have the opportunity to work directly with 'omics' data generated through this project. During their internship at JCVI we propose to engage the Fellows in diverse research activities situated within a portfolio of research and education initiatives operated by the JCVI.