Los Angeles Basin Bridges to the Ph.D. Program

描述(申请人提供)：洛杉矶盆地是数百万非裔美国人、拉丁美洲人、美国印第安人和太平洋岛民的家园，但很少有人攻读研究生课程，从而获得广泛的生物医学科学博士学位。这种对国家生物医学研究事业的参与不足代表着大量人才库的流失，而这些人才库还没有被用于解决国家的许多生物医学问题。作为对这种情况的部分解决方案，洛杉矶盆地的三所机构提议继续合作的洛杉矶盆地桥梁到博士项目(Labb(R)PhD)，以增加生物医学博士项目中有才华的少数族裔学生的数量。这将通过增加强终端理科硕士(M.S.)少数民族学生的转学来实现。少数族裔机构的项目通过垂直整合到主要研究型大学的博士项目中。这些机构是加州州立大学洛杉矶分校(Cal State LA)和两家授予博士学位的主要研究机构：加州大学洛杉矶分校(UCLA)和加州大学欧文分校(UCI)。加州州立大学洛杉矶分校(Cal State LA)是一所少数族裔院校，授予理科硕士学位是其最高科学学位，两所授予博士学位的主要研究机构是加州大学洛杉矶分校(UCLA)和加州大学欧文分校(UCI)。我们建议每年培训六名在加州州立大学攻读硕士学位的少数族裔学生，旨在提高他们的学术和研究成就；将他们纳入更广泛的南加州生物医学研究社区；让他们接触广泛的生物医学科学和科学家；提高他们到博士项目的转化率；并为他们最终在生物医学科学领域成功的研究生涯奠定基础。Lab(R)博士试图在加州州立大学洛杉矶分校创造一个在许多重要方面模仿博士课程的环境。我们提供了一个强大的、以实验室为基础的硕士研究环境，研究员的研究兴趣决定了他们在实验室的位置。我们为研究员设计了一个学术计划，以克服他们在本科成绩上的不足，同时提高他们的GPA，并将他们的GRE分数提高到具有竞争力的水平。我们在整个学年举办了三个强有力的每周科学研讨会系列，为研究员和教职员工提供与授予博士学位的机构的学术科学家互动的机会。我们为我们的研究员提供密切的指导，指导他们完成学术过程-由少数族裔群体成员本身很好地代表的教职员工提供的指导。这些由实验室(R)博士项目发起并制度化的最佳实践，使加州州立大学成为大洛杉矶地区少数族裔理科毕业生获得硕士学位并继续攻读博士学位的备受尊敬的磁石。 公共卫生相关性：洛杉矶盆地通往博士项目的桥梁将增加从事生物医学研究的博士级别科学家的数量，以增进美国公众的健康。该计划侧重于美国人口群体中传统上在科学界代表性不足的成员。这些人将更有可能在他们的职业生涯中致力于解决少数群体特有的健康差距问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Los Angeles basin is home to millions of African Americans, Latinos, American Indians and Pacific Islanders, but few are enrolled in graduate programs leading to the Ph.D. in the broad range of biomedical sciences. This under-participation in the nation's biomedical research enterprise represents the loss of a large talent pool that has not been applied towards the solution of the Nation's many biomedical problems. As a partial solution to this situation, three institutions in the Los Angeles basin propose to continue the collaborative Los Angeles Basin Bridges to the Ph.D. Program (LABB(R) PhD) to increase the number of talented minority students in Ph.D. programs in the biomedical sciences. This will be done by increasing the transfer of minority students in strong terminal Master of Science (M.S.) programs at a minority institution by vertical integration into Ph.D. programs at major research universities. These institutions are California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA), a minority institution, which awards the M.S. as its highest science degree, and two Ph.D.-granting major research institutions: the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of California at Irvine (UCI) We propose to train each year a group of six minority students pursuing the M.S. degree at Cal State LA in a program designed to enhance their academic and research achievement; integrate them into the broader Southern California biomedical research community; expose them to a broad range of biomedical sciences and scientists; enhance their transfer rate to Ph.D. programs; and establish the foundation for their eventual successful research careers in the biomedical sciences. The LABB(R) PhD seeks to create an environment at Cal State LA that mimics a doctoral program in many important respects. We provide a strong, lab-based M.S. research environment where the research interests of the Fellows drive their placement in labs. We design an academic plan for the Fellows that overcome deficiencies in their undergraduate records while increasing their GPAs and improving their GRE scores to competitive levels. We host three strong, weekly science seminar series throughout the academic year that provide opportunities for Fellows and faculty to interact with academic scientists from PhD-granting institutions. And we provide close mentoring to our Fellows to guide them through the academic process-mentoring provided by a faculty that is itself well-represented by minority group members. These best practices, initiated and institutionalized by the LABB(R) PhD Program, have made Cal State LA a well-respected magnet for minority science graduates in the Greater Los Angeles area to earn their MS degrees and proceed to the PhD degree. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The Los Angeles Basin Bridges to the Ph.D. Program will increase the numbers of doctoral-level scientists engaged in biomedical research to enhance the health of the US public. The Program focuses on members of US population segments that have traditionally been under-represented in the sciences. These individuals will be more likely to spend their careers working on health disparities specific to minority populations.