BP-BRAIN-ENDURE at Hunter and NYU

Hunter College, New York NY

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract Diverse racial and ethnic groups, as well as individuals with disabilities or from socially, economically, or educationally disadvantaged backgrounds are underrepresented in neuroscience. Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) and New York University (NYU) recognize that increasing the number of highly qualified neuroscientists from these underrepresented populations is integral to our future as academic and research institutions. Hunter College and NYU aim to increase the number of well-trained, diverse neuroscientists. The newly named “BP-BRAIN-ENDURE at Hunter & NYU” program proposes to capitalize on and expand on the objectives and success of our first 13+ years of ENDURE funding, which has produced a total of 76 program graduates. Among our 76 graduates, 62 (82%) have applied to graduate school in the neurosciences. Most impressively, 94% of our trainees (58 out of 62) who’ve applied to graduate school have been accepted to some of most prestigious neuroscience doctoral programs in the country, including Johns Hopkins, UC-Berkeley, UCSF, UCLA, CalTech, Georgetown, NYU, U. Michigan, U. Pennsylvania, Stanford, Brown, Cornell, Yale and Harvard. Eleven (11) of our program graduates have been awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, with several others receiving Honorable Mention. The overall goal of the present application is to continue to develop and refine a neuroscience training program at Hunter and NYU that will encourage and prepare students from diverse backgrounds to enter into and succeed in neuroscience Ph.D. programs. To achieve this goal, our program has developed a research-educational partnership with five outstanding T32-awarded universities—New York University, Brown, the University of Michigan, Vanderbilt, and Yale. These partnerships will expose a total of twelve (12) BP-BRAIN-ENDURE scholars from Hunter College and NYU (6 from Hunter; 3 from NYU) each year to a research-intensive curriculum and an environment of excellence and active research. During the proposed funding period, five (5) specific aims are outlined as part of our overall Research and Education Plan: (1) To recruit outstanding undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds who are dedicated to pursuing graduate study in neuroscience; (2) To provide training in a diverse range of neuroscience research questions and skills through multiple placements with actively funded neuroscientists; (3) To implement a curriculum rooted in our students’ neuroscience research experiences that enhances their academic and professional development; (4) To facilitate effective mentoring by our program faculty; and (5) To maintain an effective Administrative Core to support our students’ professional development, evaluate program effectiveness and disseminate best practices. Our measurable objectives during the requested funding period include: (1) attaining 85 to 90% acceptance of trainees to graduate school programs in neuroscience; (2) improving our students’ quantitative, scientific writing and oral presentation skills; and (3) enhancement of mentoring quality and support.