This application is a competitive renewal for four years to maintain and expand the """"""""Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Research and Education Institute (HUMC/REI) Initiative for CSUDH Minority Student Development (IMSD) in Biomedical Sciences."""""""" This unique program represents the continuation of a strong collaborative relationship between HUMC/REI with well funded faculty without graduate students and California State University Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) with over 75% minority students but without adequate active, funded research faculty to improve both the academic and research competitiveness of underrepresented minority students and to facilitate their career development toward biomedical research. The overall goals of this are: 1) To expand the IMSD program at HUMC/REI to provide research training opportunities in biomedical sciences, both basic and clinical, for the underrepresented minority graduate students at CSUDH; and 2) To improve the academic development and research career competitiveness of these students through training and educational courses and direct interaction with well-funded mentors at HUMC/REI. To achieve our overall goals, the specific measurable objectives include: 1) To increase the number of students enrolled in the HUMC/REI IMSD Program from 10 to 15 students per year (allowing an increase from 5 to 7 new students to enroll per year). 2) To increase the number of total students enrolled in the Graduate Program in Biology (M.S. in Biology) at CSUDH from 25 to 35 students per year. 3) To decrease the overall average time to complete the M.S. Program in Biology at CSUDH from 4.1 to 3 years and that of those enrolled in the IMSD program at HUMC to 2.5 years. 4) To increase the retention rate of the students in the M.S. Program in Biology at CSUDH from 90% to 100%. 5) To increase the number of students graduating from the Graduate Program in Biology at CSUDH enrollment into a Ph.D. program from 12.5% to 50%. 6) To increase the average General Record Examination (GRE) scores of the Masters students from below the 40% (Verbal 30%, Quantitative 35%, Analytical 26%, based on past 10 years' data from CSUDH) to equal or above the 50%. An active, ongoing program of evaluation is in place to measure the effectiveness of research training, improvement of the competitiveness of students as candidates for further research training/career development and increased interaction between HUMC/REI and CSUDH.
