Advancing Student Potential for Inclusion with Research Experiences (ASPIRE)

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The Advancing Student Potential for Inclusion with Research Experiences (ASPIRE) Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) seeks to increase diversity of the biomedical workforce with cardiovascular research experience through a 10-week summer program for undergraduates who belong to underrepresented groups (URGs) in science and medicine. ASPIRE will fill a great need at MCW for federally-supported undergraduate training in cardiovascular research as MCW historically receives 200 to 300 more applications each spring from undergraduates from URGs than available summer positions. We will provide apprentice-style mentoring for our trainees from our 36 accomplished faculty mentors embedded within the MCW Cardiovascular Center’s thematic areas of research expertise (“Signature Programs”), which are: 1) atherosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 2) cardiac biology and heart failure, 3) cardio- oncology, and 4) hypertension. Our program is designed to enhance “science identity” and disciplinary knowledge and skills to support belonging, attitude, competence, knowledge, and skills by engaging trainees in experiential research, personalized learning opportunities about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers (MD Track, PhD Track, or General Science Career Track), and avenues for further training (i.e., graduate school, professional school), in addition to providing professional skills for career advancement and tools for breaking down barriers, thriving, and resilience. We will draw on our extensive background with the national recruitment and mentoring of trainees from URGs, leverage existing MCW resources, and provide innovative diversity-tailored seminars and experiences in an inclusive, well- resourced environment. With strong institutional support and excellence in cardiovascular research (ranked #13 of medical schools in funding from NHLBI), we will leverage our experienced multi-PI leadership, oversight by an informed Advisory Committee, and culturally-aware, well-resourced faculty mentors to meet our intermediate and long-term benchmarks of success: to enroll and train 13 sophomore, junior, or senior-level undergraduate trainees from URGs each summer (65 trainees over the 5-year period of the award), provide tailored, relevant, and cutting-edge training in research and professional skills, expose trainees to the multitudinous career opportunities in STEM, enable trainees to present their research at a MCW research symposium at the end of the 10 weeks of training (and if possible, at a national research conference the following year), and for 80% or more of our ASPIRE graduates to complete their undergraduate degree in a STEM field, more than 50% to apply to graduate school or other biomedical-related advanced degree programs, and 75% to obtain a first job in STEM. Overall, the ultimate goal of the ASPIRE Program is to inspire and fully- equip our undergraduate trainees from URGs for future careers within STEM, especially in areas related to cardiovascular research, thereby enhancing the diversity of the future biomedical workforce.