SOUTH TEXAS DOCTORAL BRIDGE PROGRAM

This renewal application stems from our successful first four years of a Bridge-to-the-Doctorate grant (SouthTexas Doctoral Bridge Program (STDBP; 2013-2017) supporting a partnership between the University ofTexas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio; PhD-granting) and Texas StateUniversity ? San Marcos (TxState, master's granting). The overarching goal of the STDBP is to increase thenumber of individuals from populations underrepresented (UR) in the biomedical sciences with qualityeducation, research training, and mentorship that will position them to enter the best doctoral programs in thenation. Our program objectives are to recruit and train UR TxState students to complete a thesis-based M.S.degree and to prepare them not only to be competitive for acceptance into top-ranked biomedical doctoralprograms, but also to be successful once they matriculate into those programs. During the prior 4 year projectterm, 22 M.S. graduate students received financial support from the STDBP grant award and have beentrained in basic research by a cadre of highly motivated and talented participating faculty. Over 70% (10/14)of the Bridge Scholars who have exited the program bridged successfully to doctoral programs within twoyears of enrolling in the M.S. program. These include 8 Bridge Scholars who graduated with M.S. degreesand are currently enrolled in doctoral programs (7 Ph.D. and 1 D.V.M.) at outstanding research-intensiveinstitutions including; UT Health San Antonio, Baylor College of Medicine, Duke University, Johns HopkinsUniversity, University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, and Dartmouth College, amongst others as wellas 2 Bridge Scholars who did not complete the master's degree because they elected to, and have transitiondirectly to Ph.D. programs (UNC Chapel Hill and University of Iowa respectively) after their first year in theBridge program. All STDBP alumni that have bridged continue to do well in their doctoral programs andseveral have since garnered merit-based awards since matriculating. One of the two Bridge Scholars whograduated with M.S. degrees but are yet to bridge, has stated plans to apply this fall to professional programsand the other is assessing career options. Eight Bridge Scholars remain in M.S. training (5 of who will alsoapply to Ph.D. programs this year for Fall 2018 entry) and two were terminated from the program early on fornot meeting programmatic requirements with one of the latter still at TxState completing the requirements forthe M.S. degree. Therefore excluding those dismissed from the program, overall, 10/12 Bridge Scholars(83%) seamlessly transitioned to doctoral studies without any time lapse. In this first cycle, the STDBPdeveloped a new course focused on critical thinking, experimental design & analysis and responsible conductof research to strengthen the curriculum at TxState. This course is now established and incorporated into thecore curriculum for all M.S. (Bridge and non-Bridge) students in the Chemistry & Biochemistry department.Building on these accomplishments, our vision in this STDBP renewal is to further increase the number of URstudents who graduate from TxState and successfully bridge to top-tier doctoral programs nationwide. Toaccomplish this, we will use a combination of: (i) enhancement of the TxState curriculum by development ofnew contemporary curriculum in ?Genomics & Bioinformatics? and ?Scientific Rigor & Reproducibility?; (ii)innovative and targeted developmental activities designed to prepare Bridge Scholars to continue to becompetitive for admission to, and success at, top-tier doctoral programs; and (iii) refinements in studentrecruitment strategies and student tracking as well as mentor training. This competing renewal applicationseeks continued support again for 6 trainees each year for 5 years.