Initiatives to Maximize Student Diversity paying huge dividends for students
A four-year, $2.94 million grant from the National Institutes of Health of General Medical Sciences, aimed to enable minority students reach their goals, has been awarded to the Initiatives to Maximize Student Diversity (IMSD), a student research program at the University of New Mexico.
The grant is designed to encourage researchers at institutions to initiate and/or expand innovative programs to increase minority participation in research and to facilitate their progress toward careers in biomedical research in any phase of their career development, from undergraduate through the Ph.D. level.
Led by nationally recognized faculty and program co-PI’s Maggie Werner-Washburne, professor, Biology, and Steve Phillips, associate director, IMSD is a two-year Ph.D. - PREP program designed to increase the number of under-represented minorities in biomedical research. Students involved in the program are working toward degrees in Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Computer Sciences, Computer Engineering, Chemical Engineering and or Psychology. IMSD has produced significant results in every area of biomedical research.
Since the founding of the Minority Bio-Medical Research Support (MBRS) program at the UNM in 1972, and it’s renaming as Initiatives to Maximize Student Diversity eight years ago, more than 850 graduate and undergraduate students at UNM have received support to work with faculty mentors, conduct scientific research and launch their careers.
“We have had great success with the IMSD program,” said Werner-Washburne. “IMSD is instrumental in a number of ways. In the last four years alone, approximately 120 students have been involved in the program. Additionally, we have awarded 14 minority Ph.D.s and both undergraduates and graduate students have published more than 40 papers in some of the best scientific journals. IMSD students have also won awards each year at national and local scientific meetings.”
The program boasts a ‘strength through diversity’ philosophy and focuses on training leaders by providing specialized mentoring as well as experience in a research lab, which could be the difference between getting into a good graduate program or a mediocre one, and a weekly conference class. It also provides full-time student and financial support, program direction as well as travel including the annual SACNAS conference. We help students listen to their hearts, so that the path they choose is what they really want to do. Once they know what they want to do, the rest is easy.
SACNAS, is a society of scientists dedicated to fostering the success of Hispanic/Chicano and Native American scientists—from college students to professionals—to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership provides unparalleled conference activities for students, post-docs, educators, administrators, and researchers in all disciplines of science, mathematics and engineering.
“We work with the students on their research, scientific presentations, and publications and help them with their graduate school and grant applications,” said Werner-Washburne. “Getting published helps students to see the entire cycle of science so wherever they go to continue their education they have been exposed and see how the whole process works.
“Second, students often think if they have problem with their record they take the ‘no mention, no notice approach.’ If they don’t mention it, they think institutions won’t notice. We help them to face things and to deal with any problems and issues they have had in the past. We take the approach of face whatever problem there is, embrace it and love it for how it has helped you grow. What did you learn from this? When they face these things, they get accepted. We’ve had many students who have taken this approach who wouldn’t have gotten in otherwise.”
The high goals and expectations of the IMSD program have produced exceptional results and provided great opportunities for its students throughout its eight years of existence. Typically, this has enabled students to take their choice of graduate schools when they complete the program.
Former IMSD undergraduates currently attend graduate schools around the country including special opportunities with Model Organism Databases at Harvard, Stanford, Cal Tech and elsewhere. Researchers from Harvard and MIT came to UNM for seven weeks this spring to teach an IMSD-sponsored course, “Frontiers in Genomics.”
Many IMSD students have been awarded prestigious National Science Foundation and NIH pre-doctoral awards and full fellowships. IMSD also has a special exchange program with graduate training programs at the University of Washington in Seattle, one of the best graduate institutions in the country.
“We have done amazing things with students. Our goal is to develop individuals who are ready to contribute to science and make an impact in the world. We are very proud of that,” added Werner-Washburne.
Contact program administrator Lupe Atencio at 277-3609 or via e-mail, latencio@unm.edu for more information or visit: Initiatives to Maximize Student Diversity.
Media Contact: Steve Carr (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at May 21, 2009 03:33 PM