San Diego Bridges to the Baccalaureate

San Diego State University, San Diego CA

Investigators

Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract We propose to proceed with our efforts at San Diego State University to achieving the mission of the Bridges program - to increase the number of underrepresented minority students pursuing careers in biomedical research. SDSU will continue its successful partnership with three local community campuses - San Diego City College, Grossmont College, and Southwestern College - in which 75% of past and current Bridges students have transferred or are preparing to transfer to SDSU or other four year university. During the past three years, Bridges students transferring to SDSU have participated in research programs at the NIH, The Scripps Research Institute, Harvard, MIT, UT Southwestern, U. of Wisconsin, and other major research sites. Students have published papers in peer- reviewed papers, presented their research at national meetings, graduated, and entered postgraduate studies. The goal of the SDSU Bridges program will now be to train 18 students a year from the three partnering colleges to complete their bachelors degree training, despite high GPA requirements for transfer and entry into the impacted biology major at SDSU. The outcome of the program will be to produce five cohorts (`08, `09, '10, '11, '12) of highly competent students;among those transferring to SDSU, students will have a 90% retention rate in their baccalaureate degree programs. The Bridges Program has helped students achieve their academic objectives through enrichment courses in laboratory skills, research ethics, biomedical research techniques, technical writing, chemistry, microbiology, calculus, and a colloquium addressing minority health care disparities. An innovative enrichment module just added to the program introduces trainees to computational biology, including bioinformatics, mathematical physiology, and computer simulation. Continued [unreadable]bridging[unreadable]of students can occur after transfer to SDSU, through its NIH MARC and MBRS programs, and the McNair Scholars Programs, all targeting underrepresented science majors. The progress of Bridges students is tracked from program entry at community college through transfer to SDSU and matriculation to graduate school. Project Narrative: Relevance to public health: the SDSU Bridges program will prepare a growing population of college students who are introduced to emerging concepts in modern biomedical research. These concepts include an understanding of the underlying molecular and cellular biology of healthy and diseased states of the body's systems (particularly the heart and circulation), and the tools that will be required for 21st century progress in medicine using a [unreadable]multidisciplinary[unreadable]approach employing applied mathematics and computational science. Students will take enrichment courses in laboratory skills, research ethics, experiment design, technical writing, chemistry and biochemistry, and calculus, and participate in a colloquium dealing with disparities in minority health care: why do America's minority populations suffer from higher than average incidences of heart disease, diabetes and cancer? Bridges training thus addresses the needs of diverse populations of Americans.