Stanford Undergraduate URM Summer Cardiovascular Research Program

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PROJECT SUMMARY The goal of this R25 program is to increase the numbers of underrepresented minorities (URMs) pursuing careers in cardiovascular research by providing URM undergraduate students with a short-term mentored research experience in the laboratories of members of Stanford Medicine’s Cardiovascular Institute (CVI). Cardiovascular diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the US. However, these diseases do not affect all US subpopulations equally. African Americans and Latino/Hispanic Americans experience a significantly higher risk of death or disability from heart disease or stroke. African Americans, Latino/Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and some Asian sub-populations also experience increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, which is itself a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. These groups, which constitute a growing fraction of the US population, have historically been medically underserved by both clinics and medical research. Due to problems with both the recruitment and retention, African Americans, Latino/Hispanic Americans and Native Americans are significantly underrepresented in the medical and basic cardiovascular research workforce. This shortage of African, Latino/Hispanic, and Native American medical and research professionals contributes to the scarcity of medical care for at risk minority populations because people are more likely to seek out care from individuals that are members of their own ethnic group. In terms of cardiovascular research, minority researchers are more likely to focus on and be aware of environmental, genetic, and behavioral variations between groups that can affect diagnosis and treatment. It has been shown that participation in mentored research increases the degree to which undergraduate URM students identify as scientists and persist in academic and medical research career. However, because there are more undergraduates seeking research experiences than there are available positions, many undergraduate students, particularly URMs, lack the opportunity to perform independent research in an academic lab. This R25 will: 1) provide undergraduate URMs with technical training and experience in cardiovascular research; 2) provide URMs with cardiovascular researcher mentors and role models; and 3) build relationships between Stanford Medicine and local & national minority-serving institutions. Stanford Medicine in general and the CVI in particular are known for excellence in cardiovascular research. The Program Directors (Wu, de Jesus Perez, and Red-Horse) and Program Faculty involved in this R25, many of whom are themselves URMs, have state-of-the-art research programs spanning population outcome, clinical and translational, and basic cardiovascular research, and welcome the opportunity to mentor R25 trainees. Together they have the mentoring expertise and the resources to support R25 trainees though in this program.