The San Diego State University-Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training program (SDSU-MHIRT) will continue its fourteen year tradition of presenting outstanding international biomedical research training to students from health disparity backgrounds. SDSU-MHIRT will encourage and support its students so that they can successfully pursue careers in the fields of basic science, biomedical, clinical, and behavioral health, and most importantly increase the number of persons from health disparities populations who enter into the field of biomedical science. Twelve trainees per year will perform original research in areas encompassing: public health, molecular biology/ethno-pharmacology, drug design and anticancer agents, behavioral science, and clinical research. Each foreign site is required to have adequate equipment and human or animal-subject research approval for the execution of the MHIRT trainees'research proposals. Mentorship will be provided at the international site with a foreign and US mentor. Sites and mentors have been designated based on their past track record of providing a sound research experience. Unique to this proposal is that MHIRT trainees will have an extended support system once they return to SDSU. The student-based international research experience is part of an integrated approach in which other training programs (e.g. MBRS, McNair, MARC) continue to support the students. Major SDSU-MHIRT sites are in Australia, Ghana, Mexico, Peru, and Taiwan (Republic of China). In the last three years the SDSU-MHIRT program has served 46 trainees. Of these, 15 have been accepted into, are in, or have completed PhD programs and 6 are in Masters programs. In addition 6 are applying to graduate or medical school, 1 is in an NIH-IRTA post-baccalaureate program, 4 are working, and 3 are still completing their undergraduate education, of which 10 are currently at an international site taking part in the MHIRT program. In addition, in this cycle 52 publications were produced of which 27 had trainee authors. Based on the current track record, organizational structure, and the enthusiasm and commitment of the applicants, SDSU-MHIRT proposes for this next five year cycle a targeted minimum of 20 trainees accepted into PhD programs, 10 into Masters programs, and 5 into Medical Sciences.
The SDSU MHIRT program addresses health disparities by training students from health disparity backgrounds to pursue careers in biomedical sciences using an international research experience. MHIRT trainees will become the next generation of academic and clinical scholars who will study and arrive at solutions for the myriad of health disparities problems that plague our society.
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