Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana seeks to improve and increase biomedical research capabilities of its research faculty members and students through its MBRS Program. It is believed that increased research capability of the faculty, intensive student training and achievement of truly productive biomedical research activities will result in increased number of minorities pursing biomedical research as a career. In order to achieve the above stated objectives, we have adopted a multidisciplinary approach to research. Most of these projects deal essentially with problems of pollutions and their impacts on human health as well as a project on cancer. These projects traverse the areas of biochemistry, organic chemistry, toxicology, parasitology and social health services. Most of the instrumentations are similar but with modified techniques and ideas in solving research problems. We will continue to view each research project not as a separate entity but as an aspect of related projects. The research efforts will be complemented with weekly seminar presentations. Instrumentation and techniques in biomedical research will be taught to our students. We will continue to encourage the participation of non-MBRS faculty members as well as non-MBRS students in our program in an effort to improve their research skill and expertise or retool themselves in the biomedical research. This will help increase the number of trained minority individuals going into the mainstream biomedical research, thus enhancing our chances of greater success and achievement of MBRS goals and objectives.
