Feeding the STEM Pipeline with Neuroscientist Trained at an HBCU

The STEM workforce, including the field of neuroscience, continues to lack racial and ethnic diversity, with only 40% of African American doctoral students completing their degree programs. To reduce the disparity in the representation of Black and Latin-X neuroscience trainees, this proposal establishes a unique fellowship that enhances the training and professional development provided to students enrolled at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). More specifically, this fellowship will diversify our neuroscience curriculum, expand the network of neuroscience peer and traditional mentors of trainees, and help to establish trainees’ leadership in the field through undergraduate course development. All of these programs are intended to deepen the connection of our trainees to the field of neuroscience while providing supportive mechanisms to ensure their personal and professional success. North Carolina Central University and other minority serving institutions are primed to engage underrepresented minorities and increase the diversity of doctoral level trained neuroscientists.