SPURA - Summer Program for Undergraduate Research in Addiction

项目摘要 本科生进行研究的机会是发展一个 严格的生物医学教育计划。具体地说，它提供了一种不寻常的体验 以讲课或实验室为基础的课程工作的一部分，它为学生进行研究生培训做好准备 或从事基础研究或临床学科的职业。然而，本科生的机会 美国各地的生物医学研究经验并不统一，两者都有 代表不足的少数群体和主要来自农村地区的学生尤其得不到充分的服务。 这些本科生中的许多人是第一代大学生，上的院校比 与人口更多的州的机构相比，校外对生物医学研究的支持。这个 南方大学成瘾或SPURA本科生暑期研究计划 达科他州(美元)是在NIDA的支持下为解决这一赤字而开发的，目前正在寻求 继续这项工作所需的支持。这项计划的具体目标是： (1)扩大南达科他州学生的本科生研究机会， 重视第一代大学生、农村大学生的素质培养 学生来自代表人数不足的少数族裔。 (2)鼓励更多南达科他州学生参与研究和 最终在与物质相关的领域从事研究生研究和/或培训 虐待和相关的精神健康问题。 (3)推动药物滥用和相关或潜在的精神健康问题领域的工作 在南达科他大学促进交叉合作的学生培训和研究。 每年夏天，这个项目将招收8名学生进行多学科的研究体验 旨在为学生提供机会在以下领域进行有指导的、假设驱动的研究 与吸毒成瘾和潜在的精神健康问题有关的领域。该计划将 结合了广泛的实验方法，包括人类和动物行为 研究、系统神经科学、神经药理学和电生理学。教职员工参与了 该计划将包括生物学和心理学系的成员(这两个系都是 文理学院)和基础生物医学科学(美国大学桑福德学院的一部分 医学)。在过去的四年中，SPURA计划非常成功， 资助了36名学生，他们要么继续他们的本科学业，要么注册 以研究或专业健康为基础的研究生教育计划，或已成为 受雇的。

Project Summary The opportunity for undergraduates to conduct research is a critical element for developing a rigorous program in biomedical education. Specifically, it provides an experiences not normally part of lecture- or laboratory-based course work and it prepares students for post-graduate training or careers in basic research or clinical disciplines. However, opportunities for undergraduate biomedical research experiences are not uniformly available across the United States with both underrepresented minorities and students from primarily rural areas being especially underserved. Many of these undergraduates are first generation college students and attend institutions that less extramural support for biomedical research compared to institutions in more populous states. The Summer Program for Undergraduate Research in Addiction or SPURA at the University of South Dakota (USD) was developed to address this deficit with support from the NIDA and is seeking renewal of this support to continue this work. The specific aims of this program are: (1) To expand undergraduate research opportunities for students in South Dakota, with an emphasis on quality training of first generation college students, students from rural backgrounds, and students who are from underrepresented minorities. (2) To encourage a greater number of South Dakotan students to participate in research and to ultimately pursue post-graduate research careers and/or training in areas related to substance abuse and related mental health issues. (3) To advance the field of substance abuse and related or underlying mental health issues by fostering cross-collaborative student training and research at the University of South Dakota. Each summer, this program will enroll eight students in a multi-disciplinary research experience aimed at providing students with an opportunity to conduct mentored, hypothesis-driven studies in the fields related to drug addiction and underlying mental health issues. The program will incorporate a wide range of experimental approaches including human and animal behavior studies, systems neuroscience, neuropharmacology, and electrophysiology. Faculty involved in this program will include members of the Departments of Biology and Psychology (both part of the School of Arts and Sciences) and Basic Biomedical Sciences (part of the USD Sanford School of Medicine). Over the last four years the SPURA program has been highly successful having supported 36 students, all of whom have either continued their undergraduate studies, enrolled in research- or professional health-based post-graduate education programs, or have become employed.