The goal of the proposed project is to encourage highly qualified students from groups underrepresented in the Biomedical and behavioral sciences (especially underrepresented minority students) to pursue professional careers in Physiological and biomedical sciences. Toward this goal, this renewal application proposes the continuation of the successful APS-NIDDK Minority Travel Fellowship Awards program. The proposed continuation will: Provide travel fellowships to underrepresented trainees to attend the annual spring meeting, Experimental Biology (EB) and the APS conferences. The meetings provide extensive opportunities for trainees to interact with senior investigators. At both EB and the APS conferences, each Fellow will be hosted by a meeting mentor, an APS member volunteer who hosts the student to enrich their meeting experience. Provide travel fellowships to faculty members at historically or primarily minority institutions to attend EB and the APS conferences. Attendance enhances faculty's research and content expertise to improve teaching at these institutions, which serve as a primary source of minority graduate students [3]. Faculty is encouraged to submit an abstract for the meeting, focusing either on their biological research or on the scholarship of teaching and learning. Develop and cultivate long-term communication between minority students and their meeting mentors and among minority students. The program effectively uses electronic communications (email listserv and web sites, Facebook pages) to promote communication year-round. Fellows share questions, concerns, pictures, and ideas with each other and with the meeting mentors and APS staff. Provide support to teachers of middle or high school (MS/HS) minority students and/or minority MS/HS science teachers participating in the APS Frontiers in Physiology Professional Development Fellowship for Teachers Program. This program, now in its 20th year, encourages the participation of minority groups in physiology and other biomedical sciences by helping middle school (MS) and high school (HS) science teachers learn about the research environment and create student-centered learning environments. Teacher Fellows in the year-long program intensively examine their current teaching methods;experience the world of cutting-edge biomedical research;attend an intensive workshop with mentor teachers and physiologists to learn about effective teaching strategies and physiology content;and develop effective classroom materials;and attend EB. The program has generated a wealth of inquiry-based and Internet-enhanced lessons for use by teachers worldwide. Promote interactions between minority graduate/postdoctoral students and minority MS/HS students. APSNIDDK K-12 Minority Outreach Fellows visit K-12 classrooms, conduct teacher professional development workshops, serve as role models for K-12 minority students, and present their research at scientific meetings. Foster collaboration among professional societies to increase diversity in biomedical sciences - APS coordinates a seminar series to promote collaboration among societies in efforts to increase diversity among biomedical researchers. Project Narrative For more than a decade, major economic and workforce reports and recent legislation consistently have called for a greater emphasis on the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities in science and engineering (S/E) in order to meet the nation's need for research on medicine and our understanding of human physiology in health and disease. This project provides important professional development opportunities for new scientists from underrepresented minority groups, helping them to become active and recognized members of the research community and to build professional skills that increase their productivity as biomedical researchers.
For more than a decade, major economic and workforce reports and recent legislation consistently have called for a greater emphasis on the recruitment and retention of underrepresented minorities in science and engineering (S/E) in order to meet the nation's need for research on medicine and our understanding of human physiology in health and disease. This project provides important professional development opportunities for new scientists from underrepresented minority groups, helping them to become active and recognized members of the research community and to build professional skills that increase their productivity as biomedical researchers.
