Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training Program at Kansas State University

堪萨斯州立大学和来自堪萨斯西南部的三所社区学院合作伙伴;道奇城 社区学院、花园城市社区学院和苏厄德县社区学院， 在过去的16年里，堪萨斯通往未来的桥梁伙伴关系蓬勃发展。随着最近的变化， 从R25到T34的资助机制，这个新的计划提案正在寻求NIH支持新的五个- 年赠款周期，以招募具有独特观点和经验的人才， 生物医学劳动力。到目前为止，143名来自第一代，往往是移民家庭的学生， 受益于堪萨斯州立大学的学士学位桥梁培训计划。家属 大多数“未来之桥”的学生都是从西班牙语国家移民到西班牙工作的， 肉类加工厂和农业行业，他们工作时间长，遇到许多 财务、健康、语言和文化挑战。35名桥梁学生目前就读于K- 至少有39人获得了高级研究学位或进入了专业健康项目。 社区学院的学生准备在等待资金的情况下报名参加桥梁课程。该提案显示， 来自所有四所学院的支持，为桥梁学生进入 大学：1）通过在社区学院与学生及其家人建立关系; 2） 通过将学生及其家人带到K州，帮助他们熟悉更大的校园， 支持人员和以前录取的桥梁学生; 3）通过提供一个既定的，非常成功的 本科研究计划，发展中学者计划，以支持他们的学术和 亲自;和4）通过提供研讨会，讲习班，实验室经验，和研究实习，以帮助 学生探索他们的选择在干学科的生物医学职业。通过桥梁计划， 学生准备在研究生和专业课程取得成功，并建立蓬勃发展的 职业生涯。堪萨斯州立大学将继续提供1.5年40%的学费， 在大学学习0.5年的学费为100%，从而消除了与成本相关的障碍， 对于那些代表性不足的学生来说，这是无法克服的。每个社区学院也将继续提供 学费奖学金，桥梁学生完成他们的副学士学位。该项目的总体目标是 提供生物医学研究培训和指导，以增加任职人数不足的 学生与学士学位在干学科的未来职业生涯在生物医学，临床， 行为和社会科学。此外，该项目将支持美国国立卫生研究院的目标， 增强公众信任，解决复杂问题，增加健康差距和 在生物医学研究中解决代表性不足的人口的需求，并确保多样化的 训练有素的生物医学科学家

Kansas State University and three community college partners from southwest Kansas; Dodge City Community College, Garden City Community College, and Seward County Community College, have had a thriving Kansas Bridges to the Future partnership during the past sixteen years. With the recent change in the funding mechanism from an R25 to a T34, this new program proposal is seeking NIH support for a new five- year grant cycle in order to recruit talented individuals with unique perspectives and experiences to the biomedical workforce. To date, 143 students from first generation, and often immigrant families, have benefitted from the Kansas State University Bridges to the Baccalaureate training program. The families of the majority of the Bridges to the Future students have migrated from Spanish-speaking countries to work in the meat packing plants and agricultural industries where they work long hours and encounter numerous financial, health, language, and cultural challenges. Thirty-five Bridges students are currently enrolled at K- State; and at least 39 have pursued advanced research degrees or entered professional health programs. Community college students are ready to enroll in Bridges pending funding. This proposal shows solid support from all four colleges to maintain a critical and successful pathway for Bridges students to enter the university: 1) by building relationships with the students and their families while at the community colleges; 2) by bringing students and their families to K-State to help them become familiar with the larger campus, the support staff, and previously matriculated Bridges students; 3) by providing an established, highly successful undergraduate research program, the Developing Scholars Program, to support them academically and personally; and 4) by providing seminars, workshops, lab experiences, and research internships to help students explore their options in STEM disciplines for biomedical careers. Through the Bridges program, students are prepared to succeed in graduate and professional programs, and to establish thriving professional careers. Kansas State University will continue to provide 40% tuition for 1.5 years followed by 100% tuition for 0.5 years of study at the university, thus removing cost-related barriers that are often insurmountable for underrepresented students. Each of the community colleges will also continue to provide tuition scholarships to Bridges students to complete their associate degrees. The overall goal of this project is to provide biomedical research training and mentoring in order to increase the number of underrepresented students with baccalaureate degrees in STEM disciplines for future careers in the biomedical, clinical, behavioral and social sciences. Further, this project will support the goals of the National Institutes of Health for enhancing public trust, solving complex problems, increasing the likelihood that health disparities and the needs of underrepresented populations are addressed in biomedical research, and ensure a diverse pool of highly trained biomedical scientists.