A long range goal of New Mexico State University (NMSU) is to expand research and increase the opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to pursue careers in health science fields. The proposed program has as its objectives: (i) to conduct quality and competitive research within the missions of the categorical institutes of NIH; (ii) to increase the number of ethnic minority undergraduate students that major in Biology and Chemistry with career goals in biomedical research; (iii) to encourage, retain and train minority undergraduates in these disciplines by engaging them as participants in active on-going research programs; (iv) to assist and advise these undergraduates in order to make them academically competitive to enter postgraduate schools for graduate or medical training in the biomedical sciences; (v) to recruit ethnic minority graduate students and assist them in earning graduate degrees in order to develop rewarding careers in biomedical research. To accomplish these goals, it is proposed that during the current award period twenty-two undergraduate students, eight graduate students and three postdoctoral assistants will work in apprenticeship positions as part of twelve active, on-going graduate research projects in the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Entomology-Plant Pathology. Students will be permitted to select individual research projects for their independent investigation. Students may select researvh projects from areas including: functions of avian respiratory systems; the role of proteases in bacterial sporulation and insect morphogenesis; morphogenesis in fungi; reproductive biochemistry and embryogenesis; development of chromatographic supports for enzyme affinity chromatography; polyamine biochemistry, solid-phase peptide synthesis, clinical applications of analytical analyses, endocrinology, and microbial genetics. The major criteria for success of the program will be the number of undergraduate appointees who subsequently pursue graduate degrees at this or other institutions after their tenure at NMSU, and by the number of graduate students who successfully complete graduate degrees at NMSU.
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