The NIH Record

page 1 September 27, 1994

NIA Takes Lead Scholarship Program Benefits Black Scientists By Suzanne M. Lewis

Top African-American students in Maryland are taking advantage of a program focused on increasing the number of Black scientists earning Ph.D.s, and NIH is helping them reach their goals.

The National Institute on Aging's Gerontology Research Center in Baltimore is one of the first to sponsor students from the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program as part of its summer student program, according to Barbara Hughes, manager of NIA's Office of Minority Recruitment and Human Relations. Other NIH institutes are being encouraged to participate also.

NIA Director Dr. Richard Hodes (c) meets with current Meyerhoff scholars Adrien Janvier (l) and Phillip Marshall, who spent the past summer working in Gerontology Research Center laboratories.

As part of the program, Kalonji Collins, Adrien Janvier, Phillip Marshall, and Damon Tweedy conducted research this summer in, respectively, the Laboratory of Clinical Physiology, Laboratory of Biological Chemistry, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, and the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Sciences.

Dr. Freeman A. Hrabowski, a mathematician and now president of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, launched the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program in 1989 with a $520,000 grant from Baltimore philanthropists Robert and Jane Meyerhoff. The program provides African-American students with opportunities to pursue advanced science degrees, and it is hoped that the effort will significantly increase the number of African-Americans in science and research.

Since the original grant from the Meyerhoffs, major funding for the program has been provided by the National Science Foundation, NASA, and the National Security Agency. Additional funding comes from AT&T, Meridian Health Care, Chevron, the Abell Foundation, and private donors. Apple Computer, Inc., provides personal computers for students.

According to the National Research Council, in 1992, 201 African-Americans earned doctorates in math, science, and engineering in the United States. This accounted for only 1.5 percent of all the degrees awarded in those fields.

Earnestine B. Baker, director of the Meyerhoff Scholarship Program, said the program provides both full and partial scholarships to outstanding African-American students, competitively selected from across Maryland, who major in mathematics, science, engineering, or computer science and then pursue Ph.D.s in these disciplines.

The program includes support components such as a 6-week residential experience for incoming freshmen to prepare them for the transition to university course work and campus living, and study groups that continue throughout their college careers. This is in addition to the basic scholarship including tuition, fees, room and board, semester stipends, personal computers and software, and summer internships.

Several Meyerhoff scholars earned their summer internship credit working at the GRC, beginning last year. Adrien Janvier conducted research to design a system to help grow cartilage in vitro that can be used to repair damaged cartilage. His research is part of an osteoarthritis study in the Laboratory of Biological Chemistry. This was Janvier's second summer working on this project.

Dr. Walter Horton, principal investigator and one of Janvier's mentors, said he has worked with consistently excellent summer students. However, he was especially pleased to have Janvier work in his laboratory. "We jumped at the chance to bring someone on with his qualifications," Horton said, adding that he and his colleagues were impressed with Janvier's conscientiousness and focus on his work. "He wants to know the whys of what we are doing," Horton explained. "He's as important a resource as anyone working in the lab."

Janvier, who just began his junior year, said the experience of working in the laboratory is invaluable. "I had never purified DNA before or performed the types of tissue culture techniques I use in this research," he explained.

Furthermore, Janvier said his experience in the lab is a bit different from conducting experiments in a college laboratory. "You get hit with the reality that things don't always go as planned," he observed. "But you do have to plan."

In addition, Janvier said both Horton and another mentor, Dr. Douglass Bradham, have made him feel his work is an important contribution to the laboratory. "It's a welcoming environment," he said. "I don't think all research settings are like this."

Hrabowski is looking forward to a productive partnership between NIH and UMBC's Meyerhoff Scholarship Program. "My vision is that UMBC will become a strong partner with NIH in scientific research and science education," he said. "We can provide many opportunities for NIH to connect with minority students."

NIH director Dr. Harold Varmus, an ardent supporter of the Meyerhoff program, said, "I am enormously impressed with the Meyerhoff scholars. I have visited UMBC, and this program is a paradigm for encouraging minority students to pursue research careers. Every NIH lab should give serious consideration to having a Meyerhoff scholar participate in its summer program."

To learn how to recruit Meyerhoff scholars for your laboratory as a part of next year's summer student program, contact Paula Ashby, (410) 455-3139.

[Return to 1994 Summer Program]