This is a renewal application of the SMART-MIND Program (Summer Mentoring and Research Training: Methods In Neuroscience of Drug-abuse), to be conducted at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). During the original funding period, we provided an intensive summer training experience for 46 undergraduates and 10 high school teacher-student teams from diverse backgrounds. Our overarching goal is to provide a streamlined and effective training experience that increases knowledge and research skills in neuroscience and drug abuse. In the next period, our goal is to continue to enrich the science education and research training of undergraduates and high school teacher-student teams each summer with a continued focus on neuroscience and drug addiction. The program will combine education, innovative research in state-of-the-art facilities, training in bioethics, one-on-one and group mentoring, and professional development. Participants will be immersed in research projects directed by a multi-disciplinary group of 12 neuroscientists with established and funded interdisciplinary collaborations among themselves. The projects center around behavioral and biological factors that contribute to addiction and the biochemical pathways leading to neurodegeneration, behavioral plasticity, learning and memory. Each cohort will consist of 8 undergraduates and 2 high school student-teacher teams. High school teachers will be guided in the development of novel curricula, didactic seminars in science education, and various outreach activities that will foster implementation of the learning objectives in their home high schools. Four of the undergraduates will be local UTEP or community college students majoring in neuroscience-related fields and the other 4 undergraduates will be recruited from outside El Paso with a focus on minority-serving institutions. This will increase the reach of the program outside of the El Paso region while continuing our focus on promoting involvement of underrepresented minorities in biomedical research. Specifically, this program aims at: 1) Enticing and enabling an increasing number of undergraduate students from UTEP, El Paso Community College (EPCC) and other minority serving institutions to pursue advanced degrees in neuroscience and related fields 2) Increase the number of high school teachers in the El Paso region with research skills in and knowledge of neuroscience and 3) Increase the number of underrepresented minority high school students pursuing degrees and careers in science.
The shortage of minority representation among scientists that conduct research and education in the area of neuroscience is contributing to the lack of role models needed to educate the public and train young students about the biochemical mechanisms regulating the deleterious effects of drug abuse. With addiction to alcohol and drugs being so prevalent among minorities, it is imperative that we continue to educate this community and foster the development of young minority scientists that are interested in pursuing careers in science. The UTEP SMART-MIND program is directed at enriching the science education and research training of 8 undergraduate students and 2 high school teacher-student teams each summer, with a specific focus on the neuroscience of drug addiction.
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