Bridges to the Baccalaureate Research Training Program at Kansas State University

堪萨斯州立大学和来自堪萨斯州西南部的三个社区大学合作伙伴；道奇城 社区学院、花园城市社区学院和西沃德县社区学院 在过去的16年里，蓬勃发展的堪萨斯之桥通向未来的合作伙伴关系。随着最近发生的变化， 从R25到T34的资金机制，这一新的计划提案正在寻求NIH对新的五个- 年资助周期，以招募具有独特视角和经验的优秀人才到 生物医学工作人员。到目前为止，来自第一代的143名学生，通常是移民家庭，已经 受益于堪萨斯州立大学文凭毕业生培训计划。遇难者家属 大多数通向未来的桥梁学生已经从讲西班牙语的国家移民到 肉类加工厂和农业行业，他们工作时间长，遇到了无数 经济、健康、语言和文化挑战。目前有35名布里奇斯学生在K- 至少有39人攻读了高级研究学位或进入了专业健康课程。 社区学院的学生已经准备好注册布里奇斯，等待资金的资助。这项建议显示出实实在在的 来自所有四所学院的支持，以保持一条关键和成功的途径，让布里奇斯的学生进入 大学：1)在社区学院期间与学生及其家人建立关系；2) 通过把学生和他们的家人带到K-State来帮助他们熟悉更大的校园， 支持人员，以及之前被录取的布里奇斯学生；3)通过提供成熟的、非常成功的 本科生研究计划，发展中学者计划，以支持他们的学术和 个人；以及4)通过提供研讨会、研讨会、实验室体验和研究实习来帮助 学生探索他们在STEM学科中的生物医学职业选择。通过桥梁计划， 学生们准备好在研究生和专业课程中取得成功，并建立蓬勃发展的 职业生涯。堪萨斯州立大学将继续提供40%的学费，为期1.5年，随后 在大学学习0.5年的100%学费，从而消除了通常与成本相关的障碍 对于代表不足的学生来说，这是无法克服的。每一所社区学院也将继续提供 向布里奇斯的学生提供学费奖学金以完成他们的副学士学位。这个项目的总体目标是 提供生物医学研究、培训和指导，以增加任职人数不足的人数 拥有STEM学科学士学位的学生将在未来的生物医学、临床、 行为科学和社会科学。此外，该项目将支持国家卫生研究院的目标 增强公众的信任，解决复杂的问题，增加健康差距和 在生物医学研究中解决了代表性不足人群的需求，并确保了多样化的 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.