A select group of undergraduate students will benefit from the $22.7 million Cal State University Long Beach has received from the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity program to create research programs for biomedical science.
University President Jane Conoley said the BUILD program is a major effort to reach across colleges and departments to recruit students who are underrepresented in biomedical fields. The underrepresented students were said to include women, Latinos, African Americans and Asian Americans who are not well represented in theses biomedical fields.
“I’m very excited about it, and it is a really great accomplishment,” Conoley said. “Cal State Long Beach and hundreds of other colleges applied for this grant. The National Institute of Health (NIH) panel reviewed and picked us because we’re among the best and ranked number two in the nation. Ten other colleges across the nation were also chosen to receive the grant.”
She said the proposal was submitted to the NIH review panel, which in turn read, evaluated, ranked and recommended which schools should receive funding.
Conoley said that CSULB partners with other universities and community colleges to nurture students who are seen as promising in the biomedical sciences early on. Biomedical science is the fastest among the economic sectors, Conoley said.
The underrepresented undergraduate students will receive mentoring and research training at CSULB and two research partner institutions, including University of California Irvine (UCI) and University of Southern California (USC).
The training will prepare the undergraduates for doctoral programs in biomedical and behavioral sciences, which will diversify the work force in biomedical research. According to the NIH site, it will encourage them to become involved in biomedical research in matters relating to the cause, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of disease.
The grant will provide funding for stipends or hourly pay for students in the training and research programs to help them focus on their studies. The grant will also provide the possibility to renovate shared research spaces on campus and will help students buy research instruments.
Conoley said that students with similar majors work together and form peer support. If a student transfers from Long Beach Community College and students enter wanting to major in chemistry or biology, CSULB will identify those students and make sure they work with faculty, who will give them advice for which courses they need to take to transfer to CSULB. The students will receive special support and advanced classes, Conoley said.
“I’m very excited to get the grant,” Laura Kingsford, the dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, said. “I think it can make a real difference for our students and what they are able to do.”
Kingsford also said that more than 40 people, including faculty, staff and administrators from College of Liberal Arts, College of Health and Human Services, College of Natural Sciences and Math and College of Engineering are included in and helped write the proposal.
BUILD will start this year, and the money will be used to form training programs, curriculum and developing partnerships. CSULB will hire staff during the summer of 2015 and will start training for students to learn how to become research assistants with the faculty. BUILD will also work with students’ families and inform them about the career options available.