Markey STRONG Post-baccalaureate Program

Principal Investigator: O’Connor, Kathleen A. Program Summary/Abstract A. Program Summary. Most scientists develop their passion for research during their undergraduate research opportunities when maturity, knowledge, and drive are coupled with the opportunity to explore science through research that paves the way to professional graduate schools in the science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM) disciplines. However, circumstances can prevent students from taking advantage of these research opportunities or thwart efforts to obtain the merit needed to advance their careers through competitive admission to doctoral level professional schools, such as biomedical sciences, public health, medical, nursing or pharmacy programs. Students may also choose gap years to develop their skills and maturity for the challenges of professional school programs. These formative years are an optimal time to invest in our individuals from underrepresented minority (URM) and underserved backgrounds to ensure their success. This program seeks to create mentored research opportunities for underrepresented post-baccalaureates who majored in STEMM disciplines that seek to attend professional graduate programs. Candidates will be recruited from the undergraduate campus at UK and surrounding colleges and universities such as Kentucky State University, a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). Applicants will be holistically judged on aptitude for science, goals for their professional careers, needs that can be addressed through post-baccalaureate training, an essay of why they want to be in the program, and letters of support. URM individuals make up a small fraction of scientists and leadership in cancer research. Much of this disparity is a result of structural racism in our educational system that led to dramatic inequities in terms of opportunities, proactive mentorship, and advancement in science-based careers. These inequities also extend to our underserved populations. To reverse this inequity, proactive and specialized opportunities are needed to create a robust and confident pipeline of URM researchers in science and medical fields. We expect that by creating these opportunities we will tap into great sources of creativity that foster a stronger, more knowledgeable, and innovative workforce in scientific research and medicine. Furthermore, the critical thinking skills developed by cutting edge research lays the foundation of critical leadership skills. We developed the Markey Science Training in Research, Oncology, Networking, and professional Growth (STRONG) Post-baccalaureate Fellows Program as parts of a contiguous pipeline of training with the purpose of increasing the number of individuals who are from groups underrepresented in biomedical research and medicine. The opportunities afforded through this program will build the critical skills and confidence that will ensure their success and allow fellows to contribute their talents to our fight to end mortality from cancer. The Markey STRONG Post-baccalaureate Fellows Program is designed to advance the fellow’s knowledge, critical thinking skills, technical skills in experimentation, responsible/ethical conduct of research, and networking abilities to advance their career in cancer research and medicine. Diversity in Cancer Research Internship IRG Supplement January 2021