Center for Causal Transcriptional Consequences of Human Genetic Variation (CTCHGV)
Many medical
and biotechnological advances have been made in healthcare and scientific
research in recent years. However, there
continues to be underrepresentation of U.S. ethnic and racial minorities in the
biological and genome sciences. These
underrepresented groups include Native Americans, African Americans,
Hispanic/Latinos, and Pacific Islanders.
According to the National Center for
Education Statistics, in 2008, out of 6,918 PhD degrees conferred in the
biological sciences, 3,690 were white recipients, 595 were Asian/Pacific
Islanders, 253 were Latino, 241 were Black, and only 17 were Native
American. (Note: The remaining 2,122
degrees were awarded to foreign students.)
The mission of Harvard Medical School
(HMS) is, "To create and nurture a diverse community of the best people
committed to leadership in alleviating human suffering caused by disease"
(see also here). To assist HMS in achieving its mission, the Minority Action Plan (MAP) of the
CTCHGV— a Center for Excellence in Genomic Science (CEGS) funded by the
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)—was established in 2010.
The NHGRI is
committed to increasing the number of individuals from underrepresented
minority groups who have the training to pursue careers in genome and ethical,
legal and social implications (ELSI) research.
The premise of embedding a MAP here is that, as genomic science has
become critical to progress in biological science and medicine, and CEGS are
the birthing grounds of new genomic science, programs that recruit and mentor
minority students through CEGS research will not only help increase the
diversity among genomics researchers, but will also increase representation of
minority students in leading science research positions across the entirety of
biological sciences and medicine.
To that end,
the CTCHGV offers a training program for underrepresented minority students and
researchers to assist them in advancing in their career pathways in genome
sciences. In collaboration with faculty
and lab members, we intend to:
1.
Increase the diversity of those engaged in
genome research.
2.
Expand opportunities in research training and
career development for research investigators from populations affected by
health disparities, including racial and ethnic minority populations.
3.
Increase the number of researchers conducting
research focused on genome and health disparities.
4.
Develop ethical, legal, social implication
(ELSI) research projects for underserved communities.
The primary
objective of the CTCHGV MAP Program is to bring outstanding underrepresented
minority students into the research pipeline, and we have two goals for our MAP
participants:
1.
MAP summer undergraduate interns will apply to
graduate school programs in biological or biomedical sciences and proceed to an
advanced degree (PhD, MD, or MD/PhD).
2.
MAP post-docs will transition to a career in
biological and biomedical sciences in academia, industry, or government.
If you are interested in applying to our program, please contact Dr. Lee Bitsóí (email).
Last modified: 10/14/2010 3:31 PM by John Aach