In the present application we are requesting funds to continue the support of the MBRS SCORE Program at the Ponce School of Medicine. The MBRS SCORE Program, since its implementation in 1985, has been the driving force in developing and strengthening the graduate program in Biomedical Sciences and in creating a vigorous research environment that has resulted in providing the resources to support studies in immunology, cellular and molecular biology, epidemiology, parasitology, toxicology, neurosciences, HIV/AIDS, and human physiology. The goal of this MBRS-SCORE Program proposal is to increase the biomedical research productivity, the scientific competitiveness and recognition of the faculty, by providing first rate research and development opportunities and in creating a stimulating research atmosphere in this Institution. The proposal contains a total of twenty regular subprojects and three pilot projects involving more than thirty-seven investigators, seven of which have been recently recruited into the School. The subprojects that make up this Program include basic, psychological, and clinical research initiatives from faculty in the departments of Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Physiology, Clinical Psychology, and Public Health. The diverse projects include such areas as human genetics, protein folding, neurosciences, cancer biology, asthma, aging, signal transduction, cancer, gastrointestinal physiology, toxicology, HIV/AIDS, neuroscience, endometriosis, epidemiology, and psychology. These research projects will be sustained by an administrative component and by technical support personnel that includes collaborators, consultants, research associates, laboratory supervisors and research assistants. In addition, some of the activities will be complementary to other minority targeted programs in the Institutions such as the NIH-RCMI Program. Progress in the Specific Aims of each subproject and in the overall aims of the Program will be evaluated yearly in a formative report, and at the end in a summative document. Progress and achievements of the proposed program will be assessed continuously through an ongoing formative evaluation intended to provide information to improve the performance in the various program subprojects and through a summative evaluation that will finally assess the Program's success and the extent to which the completed project has met its goals.
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