This new application requests funding to support a program designed to increase diversity in health-related research, particularly in the areas of cardiovascular, pulmonary, and hematologic disorders, by providing short term research training to students underrepresented in science. This program was developed and tested from ideas over the 15 years of a previous NHLBI supported grant, T35 HL07717. This project will recruit qualified undergraduates interested in pursuing research careers to the Vanderbilt campus for 10 weeks during the summer. Faculty from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Science will serve as mentors providing a wide range of research opportunities with lab research being the focal point of the summer. We will benefit from an association with the Vanderbilt Summer Science Academy which provides weekly scientific and social events that include weekly research seminars specifically targeted at undergraduate audiences, weekly scientific enrichment sessions that range from keeping a lab notebook to preparing a poster, and Responsible Conduct in Research seminars. In addition, weekly training sessions on GRE test taking skills are held including pre and post test evaluations. Students from all the individual Science Academy programs are housed together and jointly participate in social activities from weekly campus movies to minor league baseball games. Trainees will meet with the PI weekly for small lunchtime group discussions. At the end of the summer, a symposium is held in which all participating students present either a poster or oral presentation of their research. Undergraduate trainees are recruited both locally and nationally, the latter through HBCU science departments and MARC program directors as well as through individual personal contacts through out the country. Local recruitment is from Vanderbilt and Meharry Medical College, and historically Black medical school. Selection is carried out by an Advisory Committee composed of the Program Director and three experienced preceptors.
