BRIDGING AMERICANS INDIANS INTO RESEARCH

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DESCRIPTION (Adapted from Investigator's Abstract): The University of Montana (UM) continues to be committed to a long-term program of attracting and retaining American Indians in undergraduate and graduate Programs and on our faculty. This will be achieved through cooperative programs in which UM works with high schools, tribal colleges and American Indian communities. This application is focused upon bridging the University of Montana's biomedical research community to three of the two-year, tribal community colleges (TCCs) that serve American Indian students in Montana. These are Salish Kootanai College, located in Pablo, MT; Blackfeet Community College, located in Browning, Mt; and Dull Knife Memorial College located in Lame Dear, Mt. The goals of this project are to develop programs that will introduce American Indian students and faculty at these three colleges to degree and career opportunities in biomedical sciences, and to facilitate entry to students into B.S. degree programs at the University of Montana. These goals will be achieved through implementation of the following Specific Aims: (1) faculty from the University of Montana will visit the tribal colleges to present programmatic information, seminars, lectures and participate in the implementation of specialized laboratories for courses at the colleges; (2) Students and faculty from the tribal colleges will visit the University of Montana for an educational program that will introduce them to research facilities, research faculty mentors, American Indian Support groups, and the campus environment; (3) Students and faculty from the tribal colleges will each conduct a research project in the laboratory of a faculty mentor during the summer months. Laboratories of faculty mentors are located at the University of Montana and at the McLaughlin Research Institute in Great Falls, Mt; (4) when American Indian students who have participated in this program transfer to biomedically related baccalaureate degree programs at the University of Montana, they will continue their involvement in active, successful research programs with mentors to guide them toward completion of the degree and entry into graduate or professional schools.