Minority Predoctoral NHLBI Research Training at UT Southwestern

描述（由申请人提供）：本申请是在UT西南医学中心建立一个程序，以加强少数民族博士前的研究培训UT西南。该计划将集中在基础和临床生物医学研究的本科生提供短期培训机会，重点是由NHLBI支持的领域。UT西南医学中心的医学生研究有着悠久而丰富的传统。自20世纪50年代末成立以来，这些活动包括了由州、私人和联邦基金资助的广泛的研究机会。得到支持的研究活动包括基础、临床和应用领域。该计划在过去十年中大幅增加，与UT西南医学中心校园内可用的设施和教师的出现和发展相称。目前，可用的资金只能用于支持在UT西南医学中心注册的学生和通过竞争性课程选择的本科生的培训。很明显，可用于支持这些竞争性计划的有限资源不允许将可以从这些计划提供的早期机会中获益匪浅的个人群体包括在内。该申请旨在建立一个机制，以建立一个计划，该计划将侧重于本科生在NHLBI重点领域的临床和基础研究的正式培训的接触和发展。根据从UT西南现有的夏季研究计划中获得的经验，我们设想建立一个有竞争力的计划，该计划将为来自美国各地本科校园的代表性不足的群体和少数民族的一系列学生提供机会。基于我们在识别和配对学生和导师方面积累的经验，我们预计这些经验将大大丰富参与学生的研究背景。此外，我们相信，该计划将有助于使培训环境更广泛的学生群体。我们预计，这些活动将有助于提高入学的机会（在西南，其他医学院和其他研究重点机构），提高对对研究感兴趣的学生的机会的认识，以及提供利用这些机会所需的工具和指导支持。许多出版物都指出，从事生物医学研究的医生比例下降。从从事生物医学研究的少数群体的角度来看，这种需要尤其明显。我们在学生职业生涯早期参与的经验向我们证明了这种经验对学生个人随后的职业发展的强大影响。这里概述的计划将扩大少数民族学生参加UT西南NHLBI赞助的研究的机会范围。 (End摘要）

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is to establish at UT Southwestern Medical Center a program to enhance minority predoctoral research training at UT Southwestern. This program will center on the provision of short-term training opportunities for undergraduate students in basic and clinical biomedical research focused in areas supported by the NHLBI. Medical student research at UT Southwestern Medical Center has a long and rich tradition. Since its inception in the late 1950's, these activities have encompassed a wide range of research opportunities that have been funded by state, private, and federal funds. Research activities that have been supported have included basic, clinical and applied areas. This program has increased substantially in the past decade, commensurate with the emergence and development of facilities and faculty available on the UT Southwestern Medical Center campus. At present, the funds available can only be used to support training of students enrolled at UT Southwestern Medical Center and selected undergraduates via competitive programs. It has become clear that the limited resources available to support these competitive programs do not permit the inclusion of groups of individuals that could benefit enormously from the early opportunities that such programs provide. This application seeks to establish a mechanism for the establishment of a program that will focus on the exposure and development of undergraduate students to formal training in clinical and basic research in areas of NHLBI focus. Based on experiences derived from the existing summer research programs at UT Southwestern, we envisage the establishment of a competitive program that would serve to provide opportunities to a range of students from underrepresented groups and minorities from undergraduate campuses throughout the United States. Building upon the experience that we have amassed in the identification and pairing of students and mentors, we anticipate that these experiences will serve to greatly enrich the research backgrounds of participating students. Furthermore, we believe that this program will serve to make the training environment accessible to a broader group of students. We anticipate that these activities will serve to enhance the opportunities for matriculation (at Southwestern, other medical schools, and other research focused institutions), heighten the awareness of the opportunities that are available for students that become interested in research, as well as providing the tools and mentoring support needed to take advantage of these opportunities. Numerous publications have noted the declining percentage of physicians pursuing a career in biomedical research. This need is particularly obvious when viewed from the perspective of minorities engaged in biomedical research. Our experience in engaging students at early periods of their careers have demonstrated to us the powerful effect that such experiences can have on the subsequent career development of individual students. The program outlined here will enlarge the range of opportunities for minority students to participate in NHLBI-sponsored research at UT Southwestern. (End of Abstract)