Despite advances, debilitating medical problems are a continuing human and financial resource drain in the United States and throughout the world. Population groups which are at great risk are the minority populations. Research of many of these disease states is best accomplished through a multidisciplinary program designed to meet the manpower shortage (particularly of minority persons) that currently exists in biomedical research. A multidiscipline approach is proposed to introduce potential biomedical researchers to the multifacets of life science/medical research. The long-term objective of this precollege training grant is to introduce minority students and their teachers to biomedical research of normal and abnormal conditions. Major emphasis will be placed on cellular biology, physiology, pharmacology, and microbiology.
The specific aims of this pre-college training program are to recruit and train eight (8) high school students, 2 in-service and 2 pre-service teachers annually in biomedical research. Because of the geographical location of TTUHSC, these schools have many students representing many minority population including Hispanic, Black, and American Indian. Student and in-service teacher trainees will be selected from local and regional schools. The preservice teacher trainees will be selected from local and regional universities and colleges. The primary goals of the program are to introduce trainees to: l) contemporary questions in life sciences/ biomedical science, 2) the design of experiments, 3) the laboratory techniques and methodologies used to answer these questions, 4) interpreting data, and 4) current biomedical career opportunities. Faculty interests in biomedical research at TTUHSC range from basic to applied and from whole-animal/systemic to subcellular. Each candidate will have an opportunity for a broad-based research experience while focusing on a particular biomedical project of his/her choice. A secondary goal of the program is to increase awareness and interest in the biomedical sciences at our Health Sciences Center and provide opportunities that will enhance research and teaching collaboration between TTUHSC and local and regional pre-college schools (K-12).
