University of New Mexico PREP Program

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of New Mexico Postbaccalaureate Research and Education Program (UNM PREP) is a biomedical research training program focused upon Minorities and socio-economically under-represented individuals who plan to enter a PhD program. Through a series of defined objectives, we shall: recruit high-quality under-represented Scholars to our program; develop and realize individualized training plans to provide laboratory research experience and academic training to improve the skill set of the Scholar; provide additional training modules to develop the professional skills of the Scholar; provide support and training in the successful application of the Scholars to PhD programs; investigate the parameters impacting graduate school retention; and utilize these data to improve graduate training at UNM. We anticipate that the results of this training will be to increase the numbers of under-represented individuals in the sciences, and to increase research focus and awareness upon reducing health disparities. The relevance of this project to human health is through the direct training of individuals in biomedical science fields, and their subsequent strong performance in PhD programs. Since our Scholars hail from populations associated with specific health disparities, we shall be training individuals who are highly motivated and skilled to carry out future research aimed at alleviating and curing these health disparities.