We propose an intensive summer training program for undergraduate students in research on Minority Health and Health Disparities in an international setting. We will recruit students from Florida A&M University (FAMU), a historically Black college, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and also from four state universities whose student population is composed of many disadvantaged students who would normally not have an opportunity to participate in research in a foreign venue. This training collaboration will be conducted with Jackson State University (JSU), also an historically Black college; the University of Guam (UG) that has a large percentage of Pacific Islanders; the Native American tribal colleges associated with Montana State University (MSU); and Wayne State University that has a large urban, minority population. Following their selection, the trainees will participate in a two-week didactic course on the campus of the International House at UCSD. Students will receive talks on issues in health disparity, library resources, scientific methodologies and research design, cross-cultural medicine, the responsible conduct of research, the use of human subjects in research, statistical design and interpretation, and graduate education and career paths that address health disparities and minority health. Following these lectures, students will depart for 10 weeks of hypothesis testing and research in the foreign laboratories. We have identified international research projects in minority health and health disparities being conducted by faculty with foreign collaborators who enthusiastically support, and have a track record of, successful mentorship of potential future colleagues. Trainees will have an opportunity to participate in studies in environmental health in rural Ecuador, infectious disease occurrence in either Peru or Egypt, stem cell research in Taiwan, cardiovascular diseases in the Czech Republic, and sexually transmitted diseases and drug abuse in Mexico. These projects involve scholars from various disciplines including sociology, psychology, anthropology, epidemiology, the basic sciences, and medicine. Following completion of the laboratory sabbatical, students will be expected to present their research at a forum of peers, at a national meeting, and in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Finally, we have in place a tracking system to follow the success of this program and its trainees over the course of their subsequent academic careers. ? ?
| Matson, Ryan; Rios, Carlos Tong; Chavez, Cesar Banda et al. (2008) Improved molecular technique for the differentiation of neotropical anopheline species. Am J Trop Med Hyg 78:492-8 |
