The proposed project for Short-Term Research Education Program to Increase Diversity in Health-Related Research (R25) will enable early exposure of and stimulate interest among underrepresented minority students in biomedical research specifically in areas that promote the mission of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The proposal will be administered through the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) Summer Training in Academic Research and scholarship (STARS) a program initiated as one of many examples of institutional commitment to diversity. The strengths of the proposal include a rich history of institutional excellence in research, training and mentoring. A hospital wide effor at improving diversity is also manifested by the initiation of the STARS program, now in its fourth year, the creation of an Office for Multicultural Faculty Career (OMC) and the availability of two annual minority faculty development awards that help retain underrepresented minority faculty on staff. We propose four specific goals as part of this research educational program: 1) Provide an intensive, 8 week long mentored exposure to research 2) provide a rigorous career developmental curriculum that exposes the participants to the outstanding expertise at BWH, 3) provide a career mentoring system for student participants and 4) use objective metrics to determine the success of the program both in the short term ( at the end of each summer session) and long term ( five to 10 years after program completion).
The goal of this program is to introduce underrepresented minorities to a mentored research program early in their careers. The hope is that involvement will lead to early stimulation and interest in the scientific process and improve diversity within health science careers.
