Over half the students attending California State University, Dominguez Hills, come from diverse minority groups. Through support from the MBRS program CSUDH seeks to develop the biomedical research skills of these minority students and encourage them to pursue research careers after they graduate. MBRS support will also help this institution to further develop its research potential, already greatly enhanced by past MBRS participation. The heavy teaching load required of CSUDH faculty is an obstacle to those interested in engaging in research with their students; however, the release time and funds provided by the MBRS will assist these faculty and their students in developing their biomedical research capabilities and place them into the mainstream of their respective fields. Due to past MBRS support, some of our faculty have become active researchers and successfully competed for grants from other agencies. Our students cannot help but gain from the improved research environment developed at CSUDH over the past few years and be stimulated and encouraged to continue in the biomedical sicences. Our application of MBRS support involves several of the past investigators supported by MBRS and three new faculty who wish to develop research programs. Both the Biology and Chemistry Departments are participating in the proposed MBRS research. The projects will involve graduate and undergraduate minority students in the following research areas: (1) Role of Photoperiod and Circadian Rhythms in Senescence, (2) Rattlesnakes Phylogenetics as a Key to Improved Antivenin Specificity, (3) The Effect of Ethambutol and Clofazimine on Cell Free Systems in Mycobacteria, (4) Mechanisms of Genome Rearrangement, (5) Dynamics of Photoreceptor Membrane Assembly and Turnover, and (6) Studies of DNA and its Complexes with Anti-Cancer Agents. Support of these projects will further enhance the research environment at CSUDH and provide MBRS students with opportunities to participate in sophisticated research programs. We will continue to strive to increase the numbers of minority researchers in the biomedical sciences.
