The goal of the project is to increase the participation of Hispanic Students in Cancer Research, by creating a Graduate Program in Medical Physics at master's level at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and linking the program with the existing Graduate Program in Medical Physics at Ph.D. level from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA). The implementation of the Graduate Program at UTEP will be assisted by UTHSCSA via collaborative research, eight weeks summer workshops at San Antonio (yearly) and Long-Distance Internet Training in Medical Physics on a site developed at San Antonio. The main objective of the program is to create a permanent pipeline extending from El Paso high schools, to a M. S. in Medical Physics at UTEP, and eventually ending at the Ph.D. program in Medical Physics in the Radiation Oncology department of UTHSCSA. The project has two main components: I. Cancer Research: A Collaborative Research in Medical Physics between UTEP and UTHSCSA. Pilot Project: Reconstruction of Photon Energy Spectra for Diagnostic and Therapy X-Ray sources from Attenuation Measurements; Long-Term Project: Phonon Path Monte-Carlo Simulations, for accurate Dose Calculations and Image Reconstruction. II. Cancer Training and Career Development: Training of the UTEP' Hispanic undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculties involved in the new Medical Physics Program, via the UTHSCSA' Long-Distance Learning portal for Radiation Sciences and via yearly 8-weeks Summer workshops organized at UTHSCSA. The training section will include an outreach program designed to educate high school and undergraduate students from El Paso (about 72 percent Hispanics) about the opportunities of a career in Medical Physics. Three graduate courses in Medical Physics will be created at UTEP and will be offered on a permanent basis. The program will generate 2-3 Minorities each year graduating with M.S. from the Physics Department of UTEP and will ensure that the best Minority students from UTEP (at least 1-2 each year) will be retained in the Medical Physics Ph.D. program at the Radiation Oncology department of UTHSCSA. The Ph.D. studies of these students will be supported from the funds secured by UTHSCSA. The project will be finalized by the joint submission of one or more competitive grant applications. ? ? ?
