This proposal requests funds to provide research apprenticeships during the summer to underrepresented minorities from Northwest area high schools. A parallel program will provide a research experience or internship for teachers who are either members of underrepresented minority groups or who teach or will potentially teach in schools having significant populations of underrepresented minorities. Both students and teachers will be matched with a mentor having ongoing research projects. The students will be true participants in the research projects and it is expected that they will report to their peers on their work and their mentor's research. During the summer both students and teachers will be exposed to scientific seminars, both in their mentor's field and in other research fields, the attempt being made to provide the broadest exposure to biomedical research. Three pre-existing programs will be combined in this single program. The school of Medicine and the school of Dentistry at Oregon Health Sciences University and the affiliated Oregon Regional Primate Research Center (ORPRC) have a long history of administering summer programs. We believe that by combining the programs we will be able to provide better exposure to the broader fields of biomedical research.
