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Summary of Meeting to Discuss Increased Participation of Underrepresented Minority Groups in Doctoral Degree Programs in Genomics-Relevant Sciences
On April 15, 2002, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) invited representatives from professional and scientific societies to discuss how our organizations could work together to inform the various communities about opportunities in genomics and Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) and increase the number of underrepresented minorities pursuing doctoral degrees in scientific disciplines relevant to genomics. The agenda and the list of participating organizations and their representatives are in the appendix. Dr. Francis Collins, director of NHGRI, began the meeting by highlighting the accomplishments of the Human Genome Project (HGP); the most important of which - the finished sequence of the human genome - is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2003 and that the most exciting research is yet to come. He discussed how this genomic information will help to improve human health in two ways: (1) better diagnostics to facilitate preventive medicine, including pharmacogenomics and (2) the use of gene therapy or gene-based drug therapy to treat or cure diseases. Collins also addressed the importance of understanding the ELSI issues that are an integral part of the HGP. In order to make all of this happen, Dr. Collins stressed the need to have underrepresented minorities participating as contributing scientists to the effort. This led to his discussion of the NHGRI Action Plan. For this meeting, Dr. Collins focused on two of the five components of the action plan that were the primary purpose for the meeting - research training and partnerships. He stated that in order for NHGRI to accomplish the training goals in the action plan, it will be essential that the number of underrepresented minorities receiving doctoral degrees be increased significantly. In addition to developing our own strategies, it is critical to work collaboratively with our NIH counterparts and with professional and scientific societies who have similar goals. Dr. Collins' presentation has been posted and is available for download. If an alternate version is needed please e-mail the Webmaster and one will be sent to you. To set the stage for the afternoon discussion, there were scheduled presentations on two programs in the morning - the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the Society for Neuroscience doctoral programs. The Alfred P. Sloan's Minority Ph.D and Feeder Programs [sloan.org] focus on recruiting mentors. The goal of the doctoral program is to increase by 100 per year the number of African-American, Native-American and Hispanic-American students receiving doctoral degrees, mostly in the physical and engineering sciences. The program identifies faculty in whom the foundation has greatest confidence to be able to recruit, mentor and graduate minority doctoral students. The foundation will also consider young faculty who do not have a history of training doctoral students, but who are members of underrepresented minority groups. In order to qualify for support, the faculty or department has to demonstrate that the student(s) proposed for training will be beyond the historical baseline numbers for the faculty or department. There are currently 55 programs supported at 35 majority and minority serving institutions. The foundation currently supports about 60 students per year with a one-time award of up to $30,000. These funds can be used for any academic purpose. Since the program began, approximately 600 scholars have received foundation support. A companion program is the Sloan Minority Ph.D Feeder Program. This program provides support for students at the undergraduate and master's level; support varies from $15,000 for undergraduate to $22,500 for graduate students and includes funds for a stipend, tuition, books and travel to professional meetings. This is a three-year award. Students are being trained mostly in the physical and engineering sciences at five universities. This presentation was made by Dr. Ted Greenwood, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Ms. Aileen Walter, National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), and Ms. Saundra Johnson, Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering Science, Inc. (GEM). The second model presented was the Society for Neuroscience's (SFN) Minority Neuroscience Fellowship Program [sfn.org] that focuses on recruiting students. The goal of the program is to increase the diversity of individuals participating in neuroscience research and teaching programs. Unlike the traditional National Institutes of Health (NIH) training program where the students and mentors are based at the same institution, this is a program in which the students receive support through the SFN and conduct their research at their home institutions. In addition to having their institutional faculty advisor, students are also assigned mentors who are members of the SFN. The mentors are recommended by the training program steering committee and their research interests match that of the students. Mentors are provided with mentoring guidelines and do not compete with the home institution advisor. In many cases, the research of the institutional advisors benefits from this collaboration. Fellows supported by the SFN must submit annual progress reports as well as monthly progress reports to the SFN training director and must meet with the SFN mentor at least once a year; in reality, many talk frequently with their mentors by phone or e-mail. The SFN mentor completes an annual survey of the fellow's progress. Each student's report and mentor's survey are reviewed by the steering committee. The program director stated that mentoring is an important aspect of this program in retaining students and that the large membership of the Society, 25,000 members, provides opportunities to select mentors from a variety of disciplines and institutions. The SFN plays a key role in the administrative and financial aspects of the training program. This is only one of several similar programs funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS). This presentation was made by Dr. Joanne Berger-Sweeney from Wellesley College who is the training grant program director and Mr. Greg Willoughby, Society of Neuroscience. There were presentations from several other societies. The National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) [nacme.org] provides leadership and support for the national effort to increase the representation of underrepresented minorities in engineering and technology, mathematics and science-based careers. Its mission is accomplished by providing scholarships to undergraduate students, supporting the professional development of students and professionals, developing policy papers, and publicizing various programs. NACME is also responsible for the financial administration of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's fellowship programs. The mission of Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. (GEM) [was.nd.edu] is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities receiving master's and doctoral degrees in science and engineering. GEM, Inc., does this by having access to a large pool of students from underrepresented minority groups (URM), being able to identify leaders in the field to act as mentors, facilitating networking, and identifying additional sponsors to provide fellowship support. The afternoon was devoted to discussing ideas about how societies can help to increase the number of underrepresented minority groups involved in genomics research. This is a brief, generic summary of ideas that have worked and ideas worth pursuing.
Ideas/Model Programs
The participants also had suggestions for mechanisms and for ways to facilitate getting programs started. Among them were fellowships, travel awards, use of infrastructure that has been established to accomplish similar goals by other federal agencies as a means of leveraging NHGRI programs, and partnerships with industry and the federal government. The use of the Internet was encouraged as a way to provide information to a larger number of individuals in a timely manner.
ConclusionsAt the end of the meeting, the participants were encouraged to think of ways that their organizations could work with NHGRI to develop new programs or leverage existing programs that they currently have to help NHGRI meet the goals laid out in the Action Plan. Participants were encouraged to contact staff who would work with them to find ways to support their ideas. Staff also encouraged the participants to disseminate information about the NIH individual predoctoral program [grants1.nih.gov] which provides support for up to five years for minority students who are in Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D training programs. The NHGRI acknowledges that instituting new programs will require additional resources and that NHGRI will seriously consider all good ideas. One of the immediate outcomes of the meeting was a request on the part of the participants for NHGRI to set up a LISTSERV to allow participants to share information. A LISTSERV is currently being established. The organizations' web addresses are added to facilitate dissemination of information.
Appendix AInvitees and SpeakersAlfred P. Sloan Foundation [sloan.org] American Chemical Society [chemistry.org] American Physiological Society [the-aps.org] American Society of Human Genetics [faseb.org] Bernice Morrow, Ph.D American Society for Cell Biology [ascb.org] American Indian Science and Engineering Society [aises.org] American Society for Microbiology [asm.org/] Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology [faseb.org] Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science, Inc. [was.nd.edu] Leadership Alliance [theleadershipalliance.org] Mathematical Association of America [maa.org] National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering [nacme.org] National Association of Mathematicians [caam.rice.edu] Science and Engineering Alliance, Inc. [llnl.gov] Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science [sacnas.org] Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics [siam.org] Society for Neuroscience [sfn.org] Greg Willoughby Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists [maes-natl.org] National Institutes of Health StaffNational Human Genome Research Institute Lynn Frampton, MPH Peter Good, Ph.D. Bettie Graham, Ph.D. Alan Guttmacher, M.D. Linda Hall, B.S. Monique Harris, M.A., B.S. Belinda Jackson, M.S. Elke Jordan, Ph.D. Jeff Schloss, Ph.D. National Institute of General Medical SciencesDerrick C. Tabor, Ph.D. Adolphus Toliver, Ph.D. Hinda Zlotnik, Ph.D. National Institute of Mental HealthWalter Goldschmidts, Ph.D TECHNICAL ASSISTANCEStephanie Reeves-Walker Steven Robinson
Last Reviewed: May 2006 |
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