G-RISE at University of Nevada, Las Vegas

About This Grant

Project Summary/Abstract We propose implementing a doctoral-level training program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) that will provide financial, educational, and psychosocial support for diverse students with the overall long-term goal of increasing the diversity in the biomedical workforce in both academic and non-academic workplaces. UNLV is a minority-serving institution at the undergraduate level but doctoral-level biomedical programs at UNLV have not traditionally attracted large numbers of trainees from under-represented groups, including those with disabilities and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Therefore, all of the Ph.D. programs that train biomedical researchers stand to benefit from the proposed program, which has the following specific aims: 1) Enhance the diversity within UNLV’s current biomedical doctoral programs by intentionally recruiting new students from under-represented groups from the UNLV undergraduate population and from other undergraduate institutions, 2) Cultivate a culture of self-efficacy and support for student success, 3) Provide enhanced training to biomedical students for success in 21st century research, and 4) mentor our mentors so they are more supportive and effective mentors of diverse doctoral students. The directors of this G-RISE will collaborate with the UNLV Graduate College to carry out some of these aims by implementing biomedical training within the existing Grad Academy so we can tailor these experiences specifically to biomedical research trainees. The G-RISE directors and other UNLV faculty will explicitly implement other aims. This will include a summer bridge program during the two months immediately before students begin their first two years of doctoral study in order to immerse them in hands-on activities such as brain-storming topics for first-year research, providing feedback on fellowship applications, and orienting them to faculty and student research and campus resources that will aid in their success during graduate school. G-RISE student will have hands-on workshops that will integrate their research projects with modern biological techniques available at UNLV cores or will participate in summer internships outside UNLV. As culminating experience, G-RISE students will write an NRSA fellowship application. We propose to provide stipend support to 5 trainees in years 1 & 5 and 10 trainees in years 2-4 for this program by the end of the five-year program. Trainees will be supported by the G-RISE program for the first two-years of their Ph. D. program. Our overall goal is for 90% of stipend-supported trainees and 80% of non- stipend-supported trainees to successfully complete their doctoral studies, and for 80% of all of those completing their doctoral studies to find long-term employment in an academic or non-academic biomedical career.