For more than a century, Saint Paul's College has been a leader in educating minorities and women in science, mathematics, teacher education and other fields. It is committed to providing opportunities for economically disadvantaged students and others who will possible become motivated to pursue careers that support the needs of our country and the world. The short-term objectives of the project are: (1) to establish the infrastructure that will enable faculty and students to undertake biomedical research activities, (2) to increase the number of students and faculty making research presentations at scientific meetings, (3) to increase the number of students graduating in the department by at least 5% each year and , (4) to increase the number of departmental graduates entering graduate/professional schools in biomedical sciences and post-baccalaureate programs at NIH. Our faculty pilot research will focus on the cytotoxic effects of certain chemical pollutants on Don Chinese Hamster cells. Intensive use of pesticides, fungicides and insecticides is unavoidable in modern agriculture. Several million tons of organic chemicals are added each year to the natural environment by farmers and industries. Many of these chemicals which enter the natural environment are not biodegradable and thus accumulate in nature and cause air, water and soil pollution. The accumulation of these chemicals in the natural environment has created potential hazards as mutagens, teratogens, clastogens, and carcinogens. A survey of Brunswick (where Saint Paul's College is located) and Mecklenberg counties indicated that the cancer incidence and other physiological anomalies have increased over the years. Mecklenberg County hospital did not have an oncologist on board prior to 1980. Since the incidence of cancer has increased, the hospital has an oncology section to treat the cancer patients. The overall goal of the pilot research project during year two is to assess the effect of some of the pesticides, fungicides, and insecticides that are used by farmers. The project will investigate the effect of these chemicals in causing chromosomal anomalies, alteration of proteins and nucleic acids using micro-spectrophotometer and electrophoresis. The support from NIH will enable us to achieve our goal of increasing the number of minorities and women participating in biomedical research.
