Undergraduate Research Internships in Pathobiology of Diabetic Nephropathy

描述(由申请人提供)：国家迫切需要教育创新，招收本科生攻读STEM(科学、技术、工程、数学)学科，这些学科的科学家在与NIH任务相关的领域进行研究，特别是NIDDK。此外，缺乏面向STEM的本科生来招聘STEM职业，特别是那些来自地理和经济不利背景、种族和少数民族群体以及美洲原住民代表性不足的学生。此外，K-12学生STEM成绩的不足威胁着STEM本科生进入深造和STEM劳动力的管道。这些因素是教育面临的重大挑战，需要创新才能克服。该提案旨在帮助招聘、准备和增加攻读与NIDDK任务相关的STEM学科的本科生人数。我们假设：1)为本科生提供丰富的研究经验，包括构思问题、设计和进行实验、展示和论证结果，将有助于发展他们的STEM敏锐性，并招募他们进入STEM职业生涯；2)糖尿病肾病的研究经验将有助于招募他们进入STEM学科，作为肾脏生物学和疾病，特别是糖尿病肾脏疾病研究的基础。该提案利用了一项由NIDDK ARRA补充拨款资助的为期3年的试点教育计划，该计划建立了一个新的AspirnautTM K-20 STEM管道(www.asspnaut.org)，用于招聘和培养不同的本科生和高中生从事STEM职业。研究主题为《糖尿病肾病的病理生物学》。这一主题是范德比尔特大学医学中心肾脏病学部和基质生物学中心的主要研究重点。具体目的是：1.为15名本科生提供“糖尿病肾病病理生物学”课题的研究经验。目标2.目标是40%的参与者是代表性不足的种族和族裔群体和美洲原住民，70%的参与者来自地理和经济不利的背景。目的3.教15名本科生如何成为农村中小学生的良师益友和励志榜样。预计结果将有助于从弱势群体和代表性不足的群体中招募更多的本科生进入与NIDDK任务相关的STEM学科。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is a critical national need for educational innovations that recruit undergraduate students to pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) disciplines that fill the pipeline with scientists who conduct research in areas relevant to the NIH mission, and, in particular, that of NIDDK. Moreover, there is a dearth of STEM-oriented undergraduate students from whom to recruit into STEM careers, particularly those students from geographically- and economically-disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups and Native Americans. Also, shortfalls in STEM achievement in K-12 students threaten the pipeline for entry of STEM undergraduates into advanced studies and the STEM workforce. These factors are major educational challenges that require innovations to overcome. The proposal seeks to help recruit, prepare and increase the numbers of undergraduate students that pursue STEM disciplines relevant to the NIDDK mission. We hypothesize that: 1) an intense research experience for undergraduate students involving crafting of questions, designing and conducting experiments, and presenting and arguing results will help develop their STEM acumen and recruit them into STEM careers; and 2) the research experience in diabetic nephropathy will help recruit them into STEM disciplines that serve as a foundation for investigation of renal biology and disease, and particularly diabetic renal disease. The proposal capitalizes on a 3-year pilot educational initiative, funded by a NIDDK ARRA supplemental grant, that established a novel AspirnautTM K-20 STEM pipeline (www.aspirnaut.org) for recruiting and developing diverse undergraduate and high school students for STEM careers. The research theme is the "Pathobiology of Diabetic Nephropathy". This theme is a primary research focus of the Division of Nephrology and the Center for Matrix Biology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The Specific Aims are: Aim 1. To provide research experience for 15 undergraduate students on the topic of "Pathobiology of Diabetic Nephropathy." Aim 2. To target 40% of participants to be underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and Native Americans and 70% from geographically- and economically-disadvantaged backgrounds. Aim 3. To teach 15 undergraduate students how to be mentors and inspirational role models for elementary and middle school students at rural schools. The outcomes are anticipated to help recruit increased numbers of undergraduates from disadvantaged and underrepresented groups into STEM disciplines of relevance to the NIDDK mission.