In the future, as in the past, many of the seminal achievements in biomedical research will occur through interdisciplinary collaborations. The recent emergence of high-performance computing algorithms, parallel computers, visualization tools, and three-dimensional (3D) virtual environments provides new and powerful approaches to understanding the rapidly emerging frontiers of biomedical science. Thus, there is a critical need to recruit and train a new generation of students and faculty with interdisciplinary expertise in biology, computer and physical sciences, and engineering. Recently, the BCVC was established in Louisiana, with initial funding by a Health Excellence Grant of $3.85 million from the Board of Regents. The BCVC consists of 23 interdisciplinary research faculty representing the Departments of Pathology and Genetics, as well as the Eye Center at the LSU Health Science Center (LSUHSC) in New Orleans; and the Departments of Physics and Astronomy, Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering at LSU. The goal of this application is to enhance interdisciplinary faculty research and student learning supported by the BCVC, and to expand access to the BCVC so that more institutions across the state, including predominantly undergraduate institutions, will have access to and become partners in BCVC activities. Two of the institutions participating as partners in this effort, Southern University in Baton Rouge (SU), and Southern University in New Orleans (SUNO), have student populations that are predominantly minorities that are under-represented in the sciences. In particular, specific goals for this application are to: 1) network the BCVC facilities to SU, SUNO and to the University of Louisiana-Monroe (ULM); 2) provide summer research opportunities for students and faculty at SU, SUNO and at ULM to work in the BCVC; 2) strengthen the research capabilities of the primarily undergraduate institutions through the support of new faculty hiring in research areas appropriate to each of the institutions; 3) promote formal faculty pairs to mentor research students and junior faculty; and 4) recruit qualified students, particularly from under-represented groups across Louisiana, to participate in the programs developed in the formal LBRIN partnership institutions.
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