High School Honors Research Program

College At Old Westbury, Old Westbury NY

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The High School Honors Research Program of the Old Westbury Neuroscience Research Institute is designed to increase the number of minority students entering neuroscience/mental health undergraduate programs. The College at Old Westbury is ideally suited to carry out this mission, since it has faculty whose research focus is cellular and molecular neuroscience and behavior, has received professional recognition, and relates very well to NIMH interests. The faculty is multiethnic in composition, with a high percentage of minority students who choose science as a major (65%)--all of whom can be inspiring role models. The faculty interests help to generate relevant student projects at the molecular organismic and behavioral levels; for example, our major research projects focus on HIV, opiates as neurotransmitters, and nitric oxide involvement in neuroprocessing. A similar high school internship program has been operating successfully as a supplement to the COR undergraduate training grant. It has already produced Westinghouse (now Intel) semifinalists and competitive research projects. The program benefits from interaction with other college programs and has established a solid reputation with area high schools. It extends through the academic year and the summer, and consists of (a) developmental and (b) research components, the latter working in the laboratories of preceptors through the gamut of investigative phases, from proposition to experimentation and conclusion. The facilities and state-of-the-art equipment provide the ideal setting for the learning of advanced laboratory techniques--a rare opportunity for high school students.