The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (GC/CUNY) administers all the doctoral degrees for a consortium of 20 educational institutions. For the purpose of increasing the number of underrepresented minorities undertaking biomedical research, we submit this Competing Continuation Application to build a Bridge to the Doctorate. The long-term objectives and goals of the project are to continue to develop effective programs that will train the next generation of minority scientists for biomedical research careers in the expectation that their research will contribute to lessening the health disparities in minority populations and to improving the health of the nation. Through this Competing Continuation Application, GC/CUNY will continue the collaborative partnerships with six CUNY masters institutions (Brooklyn, City, Hunter, Queens, Lehman College and the College of Staten Island) in order to 1) increase the numbers of African- American/Latino students attracted to doctoral programs leading to careers in biomedical research, 2) to facilitate their acceptance into doctoral programs, and 3) to continue to provide academic, financial and social support to promote student persistence in advanced degree science programs. Faculty from eight masters and doctoral programs (biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and environmental sciences, physics, psychology, speech and hearing sciences) have prepared a format to meet these goals. An Advisory Committee, consisting of faculty coordinators from the six masters institutions and the co-principal investigators, who are heads of CUNY STEM doctoral programs, will select the students and provide continual mentoring. Research design and methods include a) CUNY Outreach (recruitment of students), b) Bridge Activities (faculty and peer mentoring, scientific research and training, professional development, and c) Bridge Support Services (tuition, salary for lab work, travel, supplies). Research undertaken by these students is expected to produce a generation of minority researchers in biomedical science working to narrow the health disparity gap in the nation. By training minority scientists in the biomedical field, an increased pool of domestic intellectual talent, conducting research in the vital area of public health will become available that will ultimately benefit the nation as a whole. ? ?
