The University of New Mexico (UNM) has a 24 year long history of providing training to underrepresented minority students through the Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) program. The program, which originally was housed in the School of Medicine, was combined with a newly funded program from the main campus in 1995 to make it more accessible to faculty and students from the main Campus. Under the leadership of the Associate Provost for Research, the MBRS program has continued to make strides toward increasing the number of underrepresented minorities entering biomedical careers. The Initiative for Minority Student Development (IMSD) program at UNM will build on the successes and experience developed by UNM as an MBRS Associate Investigator Institution. The four-year goal of the proposed IMSD program is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities from UNM entering careers in biomedical research. This goal will be accomplished by achieving the following specific aims: 1) Improving the academic and research competitiveness of underrepresented minority students at the undergraduate level at UNM who have expressed an interest in a career in biomedical research. 2) Increasing the number of IMSD participants from UNM that enter graduate programs in biomedical sciences from the current 25 percent to 35 percent per year by the end of the four- year grant. 3) Teaching students participating in the program the ethics relating to careers in biomedical research. 4) Increasing the number of underrepresented minority (IMSD) graduate students receiving a degree at the University of New Mexico from an average of 2 per year to 3 per year. Undergraduate students in the program will develop research skills, gain research experience, learn about careers in biomedical research, and prepare for graduate school. The proposed program is student driven and not subproject or associate investigator driven. A large pool of qualified mentors has been selected to represent various areas of research from the entire campus. In order to be selected as a mentor the individual had to demonstrate that he/she had an active research program, was actively seeking research support, and had experience in training students. Students selected to participate in the program will select the mentor they want to work with. Twenty undergraduate students will be selected to participate in the IMSD program. The program will also support ten underrepresented graduate students. Support will consist of supplies, travel, and salary money; however, graduate students will also have their tuition paid. The various measurable objectives will be evaluated from within the program at specified times. The success of the IMSD program at UNM will be evaluated annually and adjustments made as needed. In the last year of the grant an outside evaluator will be consulted to evaluate the program.
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