University of Washington ENDURE

神经系统疾病代表了社会现有的和日益增长的情感和经济负担。神经科学研究对于发现这些疾病的新疗法和治疗方法至关重要。考虑到这一目标，我们必须培养代表美国社会的研究科学家，包括少数民族，经济弱势群体和残疾人。少数群体在科学和技术领域的代表性不足，部分原因是代表性不足的少数群体学生要么未能进入或离开从STEM大学教育开始并继续在科学相关领域的研究生院的途径。华盛顿大学通过本科研究教育经验增强神经科学多样性（UW-ENDURE）计划将利用NIH蓝图计划，帮助普吉特海湾地区的社区大学生过渡到研究生研究生涯，让他们在华盛顿大学的神经科学领域获得夏季和学术年的指导研究经验。我们的第一个具体目标是每年招收8名来自代表性不足背景的本科生参加学年和夏季研究以及神经科学领域的培训。我们的第二个具体目标是确保每个被招募的学生都被纳入UW神经科学实验室的研究计划，并且是一套全面的教育和指导机会的一部分，包括夏季研讨会和学年课程，以及一对一的指导计划，该计划在UW-ENDURE阶段开始，并在完成计划后持续一年。最后，我们的第三个具体目标是彻底评估UW-ENDURE对学生的定量技能和神经科学原理的理解的直接影响，以及对学生成功申请和进入竞争激烈的STEM研究生职业的影响。普吉特海湾地区代表了社区大学和华盛顿大学等顶级神经科学研究机构中STEM职业中代表性不足的少数民族的理想组合。UW-ENDURE将利用这种情况，帮助代表性不足的少数民族过渡到并留在神经科学研究的迷人世界。

Diseases of the nervous system represent an existing and growing emotional and economic burden to society. Neuroscientific research is critical to the discovery of new therapies and treatments for these disorders. With this goal in mind, it is imperative that we train research scientists who represent US society, including ethnic minorities, people from economically disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities. Underrepresentation of minorities in science and technology emerges in part from the fact that underrepresented minority students either fail to enter or leave the pathway that starts with a STEM college education and continues with graduate school in science-related fields. The University of Washington Enhancing Neuroscience Diversity through Undergraduate Research Education Experiences (UW-ENDURE) program will capitalize on the NIH Blueprint Program to help community college students in the Puget Sound region transition into graduate research careers by exposing them to summer and academic-year mentored research experiences in the field of neuroscience at the University of Washington. Our first Specific Aim will be to recruit each year 8 undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds to participate in academic-year and summer research as well as training in the field of neuroscience. Our second Specific Aim to assure that each recruited student is incorporated into the research program of a neuroscience laboratory within the UW, and is part of a comprehensive set of educational and mentoring opportunities including summer workshops and academic-year courses, and a one-on-one mentoring plan that starts during their stage at UW-ENDURE and continues for year after their completion of the Program. Finally, our third Specific Aim is to thoroughly evaluate UW-ENDURE’s immediate impact on students’ quantitative skills and understanding of neuroscience principles, and on the students’ success in applying to and entering competitive STEM graduate careers. The Puget Sound region represents an ideal combination of underrepresented minorities in STEM careers within community colleges and a top neuroscience research institution like the UW. UW-ENDURE will capitalize on this scenario to help underrepresented minorities transition into and remain in the fascinating world of neuroscience research.