This award provides funds to support a summer REU program to be held in the Department of Biomedical Sciences (BMS) of the State University of New York at Albany's School of Public Health. The participating faculty members in this department are also Research Scientists within the Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research (WCL&R) of the New York State Health Department. The WCL&R is a unique laboratory with state-of-the-art facilities, in which basic research programs have developed alongside mission-oriented public health laboratories. The research interests of the participating BMS faculty cover a broad range, with emphasis in molecular genetics and structural biology. Ten undergraduate students interested in research careers will be recruited from colleges in the Northeast and from historically Black colleges in the South. Recruitment of under- represented minority students will be assisted by the Director of the Office of Minority Affairs, as part of this University's ongoing initiative in the area of minority graduate education. Laboratory projects in basic biological research topics will be chosen that are interesting, likely to yield results within the time-frame of the program, and allow for some degree of student development and independence. Weekly group meetings will be used to discuss science- and career-related issues and to monitor student progress. The students will be asked to make both written and oral presentations to stress the importance of communication skills within science.
