NIA MSTEM: Advancing Diversity in Aging Research through Undergraduate Education at the University of the District of Columbia

项目摘要/摘要 通过我们的NIA硕士项目(通过本科推进老龄化研究的多样性 哥伦比亚特区大学的教育)我们寻求创造和促进与衰老相关的研究 和为未被充分代表的少数族裔(URM)学生提供的课程体验 哥伦比亚大学(UDC)，历史上的黑人学院和大学(HBCU)。具有重大社会意义的是我们的 长期目标是增加城市管理专业人员的数量，旨在通过以下方式解决与老龄化有关的问题 研究调查(研究)和干预(设计和装置)。据预测，中国的 然而，到2025年，全球50岁以上的人口将增加到12亿人，这与老龄化有关 研究性培训在本科生层面还处于萌芽阶段，多样性有限。 这个项目的目标是创造和促进与衰老相关的：1)研究体验(与跌倒有关， 成像和数据分析)；2)与一年级和四年级设计相关的新的独特课程体验 项目、实习和研讨会，以及专业的学生俱乐部活动；以及3)通过 为UDC的URM本科生群体提供指导、传播和推广服务。我们的 中心假设是，通过上述目标，我们将产生一支多样化的专业干部队伍， 都很有能力解决与衰老有关的问题。这个项目是独特的，但很好地契合了以前的和 UDC目前赞助的研究活动集中在本科生衰老相关(BALANCE)研究 和生物医学工程(BME)教育。 该项目的贡献是重大的，因为它将导致与老龄化有关的新的科学发现 与平衡和跌倒、成像和分析相关的研究，以及增加受过培训的URM的数量 本科生被与衰老相关的研究迷住了。研究体验，通常仅提供 提供给研究生，将提供给UDC的URM本科生。建议的项目是 创新之处在于它将利用这样一个事实，即UDC只是全国3个在BME拥有BS的HBCU之一 学位课程，更重要的是，UDC是目前唯一促进BME重点老化的HBCU 研究。此外，该项目将为URM本科生提供一个与老龄化相关的无与伦比的生态系统 研究、课程和专业发展交织了一个独特的、有意义的网络： UDC BME重点人员，老龄化和社区生活部(DACL)，有 华盛顿特区和UDC老年学研究所(IOG)所有8个病区的社区站点。此外， 该项目可能会对少数群体服务机构(MSI)和非MSI产生影响，并成为他们的榜样 全国范围内寻求建立与老龄化相关的本科生研究和教育基础设施。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Through our NIA MSTEM Project (Advancing Diversity in Aging Research through Undergraduate Education at the University of the District of Columbia) we seek to create and foster aging-related research and curricular experiences for underrepresented minority (URM) students at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), a historically black college and university (HBCU). Of significant societal relevance, is our long-term goal to increase the number of URM professionals aimed at solving problems tied to aging via research investigations (studies) and interventions (designs and devices). It is projected that the number of individuals older than 50 years of age will increase to 1.2 billion by 2025 worldwide, however, aging-related research training is nascent at the undergraduate levels & diversity is limited. The objectives of this project are to create and foster aging-related: 1) research experiences (tied to falls, imaging, and data analytics); 2) new and unique curricular experiences tied to freshman and senior design projects, practicum & seminars, and professional student club activities; and 3) professional development via mentorship, dissemination and outreach for the URM undergraduate student demographic at UDC. Our central hypothesis is that through the above objectives we will produce a diverse cadre of professionals that are well-equipped to solve issues tied to aging. This project is distinct, yet dovetails nicely with, previous and current sponsored research activities at UDC focused on undergraduate aging-related (balance) research and Biomedical Engineering (BME) education. The project’s contribution is significant in that it will lead to new scientific findings on aging-related research tied to balance & falls, imaging, and analytics, as well as increase the number of trained URM undergraduate students captivated by aging-related research. Research experiences, typically only available to students at the graduate level, will be provided to URM undergraduates at UDC. The proposed project is innovative in that it will capitalize on the fact that UDC is only 1 of 3 HBCUs nationwide with a BS in BME degree program and, more importantly, UDC is the only HBCU which currently fosters BME-focused aging research. Further, the project will provide URM undergraduates an unparalleled ecosystem in aging-related research, curricula, and professional development which interweaves a unique, meaningful network of the: UDC BME-focused personnel, the Department on Aging and Community Living (DACL) which has community sites across all 8 wards of Washington, DC, and the UDC Institute of Gerontology (IOG). Further, this project may have an impact on and serve as a model for minority-serving institutes (MSIs) and non-MSIs nationwide seeking to create their undergraduate aging-related research and education infrastructure.