The purpose of this training grant is to provide short-term research training in environmental toxicology carcinogenesis for minority undergraduate students. By providing these minority students with an intensive, highly mentored research experience the investigators hope to encourage them to pursue careers in biomedical science. The program is conducted at two geographically close sites within the University of Texas (UT) system, which have multiple, established training and research collaborations. These interactions are fostered by the joint NIEHS-sponsored Center for Research on Environmental Disease and a shared T32 training grant that supports graduate students on both campuses. The state of Texas has a Hispanic population that is more than 30% of the total population and an African American population that is approximately 12% of the total population. The UT system has a strong historical tradition of enrolling minorities in their undergraduate professional program; and one of the training sites, the College of Pharmacy, has the highest percentage (13 to 20% over the last 5 years) of undergraduate Hispanics enrolled at UT Austin. Unfortunately, very few Hispanics or African American students continue for an advanced degree in science, medicine or allied health. The investigators' program recruits from a rich source of highly trained minority students at UT and other colleges and universities, and then assists students in continuing into post-graduate training in biomedical sciences, including toxicology and carcinogenesis. The students are selected for the program on the basis of grades, letters of recommendations, and their motivation to consider a career in the environmental health sciences. The students spend approximately 12 weeks working in a laboratory of their choosing; the faculty mentor and student will work closely on a research project in which the student will learn experimental design, research methodology and interpretation of experimental data. The organized program includes a variety of educational activities such as weekly research seminars presented by post-doctoral fellows, field trips to academic institutions and a biotech company, and a final mini-symposium at which students present their research results. The investigators believe their training program offers the students an excellent opportunity to learn first-hand the experiences and excitement of cutting edge research in toxicology and carcinogenesis and to encourage them to consider science careers. Faculty have an excellent history of collaboration and sharing of research resources, such as advanced instrumentation, that foster multi- disciplinary research. Thus, (i) the maturity of their graduate program, (ii) the institutional commitment to the educational mission of the toxicology program via the establishment of the Center for Molecular and Cellular Toxicology, and (iii) in combination with the recent renewal of their NIEHS supported Center grant, all combine to provide an environment ideal for an increase in the number of NIEHS supported minority undergraduate training positions.
| Richburg, John H; Nanez, Adrian (2003) Fas- or FasL-deficient mice display an increased sensitivity to nitrobenzene-induced testicular germ cell apoptosis. Toxicol Lett 139:1-10 |
