IU receives $1.3 million NIH grant to help minority students pursue careers in biomedical research

By Jeff Austin

Indiana University has been awarded a four-year, $1.3 million grant by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences for the development of an innovative new program called MEDIC B. The program will assist under-represented minority students‹African American, native American, Asian American/Pacific Islander and Latino‹in their pursuit of careers in biomedical research.

The announcement was made at last Friday's (Jan. 23) meeting of the Trustees of IU.

"Now more than ever, it is vital that we provide students from diverse backgrounds with the opportunities to participate in the advancement of science," said George Walker, vice president for Research and dean of the University Graduate School (RUGS). "Interdisciplinary research and development in health-related fields are spurring new economic enterprise and the creation of new jobs in emerging technologies that will impact everyone's lives."

The MEDIC-B program (Minority Education and Development Initiative for Careers in Biomedicine) will provide enhanced educational, research and professional development opportunities for undergraduate science majors enrolled at IU's Bloomington campus and at seven of the country's leading minority-serving colleges and universities: Alcorn State University, Clark-Atlanta University, Morehouse College, New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, Spelman College, University of North Carolina at Pembroke and Xavier University of Louisiana.

"While we have removed many of the barriers of segregation at American colleges and universities, we need to do more," Walker said. "We must not only provide equal opportunities, but also nurture students from segments of the population that are under-represented in the sciences. With science evolving as rapidly as it is at the close of the 20th century, no group can afford to be left behind."

The initial phase of the four-year MEDIC-B program will begin this spring with IUB students. In June, undergraduate students from the seven participating institutions will come to Bloomington for summer research internships. Students will further their conceptual, technical and analytical skills by working with research scientists in the environment of a large research university.

Muskavit

"I think one of the key qualities of the program that the NIH recognized was the long-standing commitment of scientists at IU to working with minority students and to their professional development," said Marc Muskavitch of IUB's Department of Biology and director of the MEDIC-B program. "They considered the experience we already had in working with minority students to be a real strength."

In addition to providing research experiences for students, the MEDIC-B program will fund research seminars by IU faculty members at each of the seven partner colleges and universities.

This will provide the opportunity for researchers at the respective institutions to become acquainted and explore mutual research interests. Other reciprocal visits will enable faculty and administrators to learn more about ongoing research, course development and educational infrastructure at the participating institutions.

"The NIH was very interested in supporting the attempt to build better bridges between a major research university like IU and institutions that primarily serve students from minority populations," Muskavitch said. "It's not clear yet exactly how to build the bridges‹the partnership program is regarded as a bit of an experiment‹but they were confident that IU has the resources and the past experience to make the program work."

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