University of Washington Stipends for Training Aspiring Researchers (STAR) Program

2021 – 2026 UW STAR PROGRAM – PROJECT SUMMARY ABSTRACT The STAR Program completed its ninth year of funding in 2019 with 91% of program participants enrolled in or completed biomedical graduate or health professional degrees. The program has been an integral contributor in effectively training underrepresented minority, first generation, and economically disadvantaged, students to pursue health, biomedical, and biobehavioral research pathways. The long-term objective of the Program’s next five years is to expand its initiatives to increase from 71% to 80% the number of participants, entering and completing biomedical and behavioral majors and eventually matriculating into professional/graduate programs. To fulfill this objective, the UW STAR Program team proposes to bring together an expanded set of activities and a collaborative team of faculty and staff to implement its initiative. While continuing to strengthen students’ academic and technical skills, the Program will also focus on helping participants understand the role of heart, lung, and blood-related research and the subsequent impact of this research in addressing health disparities in underrepresented communities. The overarching objective of the University of Washington STAR Program is to develop innovative programming that will provide underrepresented minority (URM) students, first generation students, economically and educationally disadvantaged students, and/or students with disabilities with the conceptual underpinnings and laboratory experiences that support their goals of pursuing post-undergraduate studies leading to MD, MD/PhD, PhD, and Masters’ degrees. To fulfill this objective, the STAR Program will consist of four (4) major components: Teach Lab: a 10 week program that will introduce rising sophomore and junior level students, without any formal biomedical/behavioral laboratory experience, to the required, fundamental techniques and methods of research. The Research Laboratory component will place sophomore through non-graduating senior/1st year graduate/rising 2nd year medical students for 10 weeks, in mentored laboratory experiences with University of Washington staff involved in NHLBI-focused research. Retention Activities to keep participants excited about NHLBI-focused research through researcher-led lectures; encouraging participation in academic-year laboratory experiences at students’ respective institutions using skills learned in Teach Lab; and, on-going, holistic advising by program staff. And finally, an annual Evaluation that will lead to fine-tuning/refinement of Program activities, based on participant feedback.