The objective of the MBRS-IMSD Program at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) is to increase the number and academic excellence of underrepresented (UR) undergraduate and graduate students that complete Ph.D. degrees in biomedical sciences and advance to competitive postdoctoral positions. During the past decade, the program increased by several fold the institutional rate at which UR undergraduates enter Ph.D. programs following graduation and the number of UR graduate students completing Ph.D. programs at UCI. Program elements are academic preparation, research training, intense mentoring and professional development. Independent paid research conducted under the direction of faculty mentors serves as a core element to prepare IMSD students for graduate school and research-focused careers. Research training begins in the freshmen year with the development of original projects that are developed by participants. Over 80 faculty with funded research programs serve as preceptors of IMSD trainees. The program offers a series of components to increase the interest, motivation and academic preparedness of undergraduates (freshmen to seniors) to enter Ph.D. programs in biomedical sciences, including a peer tutoring/mentoring program of science classes, a seminar series, journal club, progress report sessions, workshops on scientific communications, and application to graduate school. The graduate component is designed to provide a comprehensive training for UR Ph.D. students to excel in graduate school. The program provides summer research training for incoming UR Ph.D. students to prepare them for the graduate core classes, a workshop to prepare oral exams after the first year, a series of activities for second year students to prepare a dissertation research project and competitive proposals for extramural funding, presentation of papers at national conferences, professional development workshops on the academic postdoctoral positions search and counseling and orientation about graduate studies and career development in a non-departmental setting.

Public Health Relevance

The inclusion of underrepresented groups in the biomedical scientific workforce is critical to address the need of improving the health of the people of the United States and eliminating health disparities in the nation. This project will improve the quality and number of undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups being trained as the next generation of biomedical research scientists.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)
Type
Education Projects (R25)
Project #
5R25GM055246-25
Application #
10079487
Study Section
NIGMS Initial Review Group (TWD)
Program Officer
Brown, Patrick
Project Start
1996-09-30
Project End
2022-12-31
Budget Start
2021-01-01
Budget End
2021-12-31
Support Year
25
Fiscal Year
2021
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California Irvine
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
046705849
City
Irvine
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92617
Guerrero-Juarez, Christian F; Astrowski, Aliaksandr A; Murad, Rabi et al. (2018) Wound Regeneration Deficit in Rats Correlates with Low Morphogenetic Potential and Distinct Transcriptome Profile of Epidermis. J Invest Dermatol 138:1409-1419
Guerrero-Juarez, Christian F; Plikus, Maksim V (2018) Emerging nonmetabolic functions of skin fat. Nat Rev Endocrinol 14:163-173
López, Alberto J; Jia, Yousheng; White, André O et al. (2018) Medial habenula cholinergic signaling regulates cocaine-associated relapse-like behavior. Addict Biol :
Zwick, Rachel K; Guerrero-Juarez, Christian F; Horsley, Valerie et al. (2018) Anatomical, Physiological, and Functional Diversity of Adipose Tissue. Cell Metab 27:68-83
Hughes, Michael W; Jiang, Ting-Xin; Plikus, Maksim V et al. (2018) Msx2 Supports Epidermal Competency during Wound-Induced Hair Follicle Neogenesis. J Invest Dermatol 138:2041-2050
Pirbhoy, Patricia Salgado; Farris, Shannon; Steward, Oswald (2017) Synaptically driven phosphorylation of ribosomal protein S6 is differentially regulated at active synapses versus dendrites and cell bodies by MAPK and PI3K/mTOR signaling pathways. Learn Mem 24:341-357
Lomeli, Naomi; Di, Kaijun; Czerniawski, Jennifer et al. (2017) Cisplatin-induced mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with impaired cognitive function in rats. Free Radic Biol Med 102:274-286
Plikus, Maksim V; Guerrero-Juarez, Christian F; Ito, Mayumi et al. (2017) Regeneration of fat cells from myofibroblasts during wound healing. Science 355:748-752
Catalan-Dibene, Jovani; Vazquez, Monica I; Luu, Van Phi et al. (2017) Identification of IL-40, a Novel B Cell-Associated Cytokine. J Immunol 199:3326-3335
Hernandez, Michael X; Jiang, Shan; Cole, Tracy A et al. (2017) Prevention of C5aR1 signaling delays microglial inflammatory polarization, favors clearance pathways and suppresses cognitive loss. Mol Neurodegener 12:66

Showing the most recent 10 out of 41 publications