In the present application we are requesting funds to continue the support of the MBRS Program at the Ponce School of Medicine. The MBRS Program, since its implementation in 1985, has been the driving force in developing and strengthening the graduate program in Biomedical Sciences and in creating a vigorous research environment that has resulted in providing the resources to support studies in immunology, cellular and molecular biology, epidemiology, parasitology, and toxicology. The goal of the present MBRS-SCORE Program proposal is to increase the biomedical research productivity, the scientific competitiveness and recognition of the faculty, by providing first-rate research and development opportunities and in creating a stimulating research atmosphere at this institution. The proposal contains a total of sixteen (16) subprojects involving seventeen (17) investigators, five (5) of which have been recently recruited into the School. The subprojects that make up this Program include both basic and clinical research initiatives from faculty in the departments of Biochemistry, Microbiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Physiology and Clinical Psychology. The diverse projects include such areas as human genetics, protein folding, neurosciences, cardiac and gastric human physiology, signal transduction, immunosenescence, cancer biology, retrovirology, and asthma and diabetes research. These research projects will be sustained by an administrative component and by technical and support personnel that include collaborators, consultants, laboratory technicians, and research associates. In addition, some of the activities will be complementary to other minority targeted programs at the institution such as the RCMI Program, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science Education Initiative for Biomedical Research Institutions Program, the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP), and eventually, the MBRS RISE Program. Progress in the specific aims of each project and in the overall aims of the Program will be evaluated yearly in a formative report and at the end in a summative document. Progress and achievements of the proposed program will be assessed continuously through an ongoing formative evaluation intended to provide information to improve the performance in the various program subprojects and through a summative evaluation that will finally assess the Program's success and the extent to which the completed project has met its goals. Both the evaluation of the implementation to assess whether the Program is being conducted as planned and of the process, the assessment, and the progress being made by the participant in meeting the individual subproject and program goals will be performed.
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