The primary objectives of this program are to improve the quality of precollege science education and to increase the pool of minorities interested and prepared to enter college and pursue a career in the biomedical/behavioral sciences. The objectives will be accomplished by integrating this NCRR Minority Initiative: K-12 Teachers and High School Students into the School of Dentistry's ongoing NIH supported Short-Term Training: Students in Health Professional Schools program in which dental students participate in summer research projects. The program will include both K-12 inservice and preservice teachers, 2 will be selected each year, and 8 minority high school students per year. The Health Sciences Minority Program will undertake recruitment for the program. Historically 25 minority students are placed each summer into health and biological sciences laboratories. Selection of students, mentors and projects will be performed by the program director and the Dental Research Institute's Research Support Committee using defined criteria. Students and teachers selected for the Minority Initiative will enter the program 2 weeks after the dental students have initiated their mentored research project and will continue until the end of the project 8 weeks later. Sixteen mentors have been selected for the program and the research areas include Biophysical Sciences, Microbiology and Immunology, Neurosciences, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and Clinical Research and Biostatistics. Students must prepare a written report on his or her research project in the- format of the Journal of Dental Research. The student must also prepare a poster in the format of the dental IADR/AADR annual meeting and the poster is presented in the Spring at two different times. Students and teachers will attend Summer Research Training Seminars in the School of Dentistry and will also attend the seminars presented as part of the Health Sciences Minority Program's Summer Research Apprentice Program. Special sessions on scientific integrity will be presented. The students and teachers will participate in a series of carefully defined enrichment activities including academic advising, career counseling, and personal counseling to ensure success in the laboratory placement. A computerized tracking system will be used for all students identified and served at all academic levels. The Health Sciences Minority Program administers two locally designed evaluation instruments. Follow-up activities for the student, teacher and mentor during the academic year have been designed in order to create permanent pathways for minority students to enter the health sciences pipeline.
