The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Medical Research Scholars Program is a public-private partnership supported jointly by the NIH and generous contributions to the Foundation for the NIH from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the American Association for Dental Research, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and the Colgate-Palmolive Company, as well as alumni of student research programs and other individual supporters. In the 2014-2015 fiscal year the acting Director of NIMHD, Yvonne Maddox initiated a cooperative effort with the NIH Clinical Center Office of Clinical Research Training and Medical Education to provide 1.5 million dollar of support for the Medical Research Scholars Program (MRSP) to support an expansion of the recruitment and diversity of the incoming class of 2015-2016. The MRSP offers a yearlong mentored research experience in clinical and translational medical research for medical, nursing, osteopathic and veterinary students on the NIH Bethesda campus. Students selected for the program are supported by a stipend and resources for educational enrichment including housing, and travel to scientific meetings. NIMHD extramural and intramural personnel were closely involved in outreach efforts to increase the awareness of this program to university and medical professional schools that are training a large percentage of under-represented minority populations. This included online seminars to discuss the application process and criteria school deans should use for recommending potential applicants. The net result was a significant increase the diversity of both applicant poll on the matriculating class of 2015-2016. The total slots for MRSP scholars increased from 42 in 2014-2015 to 55 students (31% increase). The total number of URM applicants increased from 115 in 2014-2015 to 148 (29% increase). Finally, the total number of students from URM populations that matriculated into the MRSP program increased from 3 in 2014-2015 to 13 (330% increase).
