Henry Frierson - US grants

9553311 Frierson The goal of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC- CH) RCMS project will be the motivated, excite, and encourage minority students to pursue graduate studies and research careers in science. The project has two components. The first component will focus on providing in-depth research experiences for the students, starting the summer after their sophomore year. This component will be termed UNC-RCMS. The second component calls for special participation of NSF affiliated Alliance for Minority Participation (AMP) students in the UNC-CH Summer Pre-Graduate Research Experience (SPGRE) Program and will be termed the SPGRE- AMP Connection. At steady state, a total of at least 32 students will participate each year. Annually, at least 16 students (eight juniors and eight seniors) will participate in the UNC-RCMS components throughout the year and 16 students will participate in the SPGRE-AMP Connection during the summer. A major aspect of the project is to provide the projects throughout their junior and senior years with the goal tat they matriculate in graduate science programs after graduating. Another feature is for the students to spend the summer after their sophomore year at a corporate laboratory in Research Triangle Park. In the subsequent summer, the desire is for the students to spend the summer at another major research university. An expected outcome is for a number of SPGRE-AMP students to enroll in UNC-CH graduate programs and for UNC-RCMS to students to enter science and math Ph.D. programs at other major research universities.

The Minority Student Development (MSD) Program will assist UNC-CH in enrolling and supporting increased numbers of students from underrepresented minority groups. The cornerstone of MSD at UNC-CH will be mentoring and will consist of multiple components involving UNC-CH undergraduate, graduate, medical, and dental students. Moreover, undergraduates from other schools will be involved via a summer research program to form a pipeline to UNC-CH graduate programs (and to other graduate programs as well). The program will build on the strengths of UNC-CH's strong research activities and its efforts in enhancing and promoting diversity among its graduate and professional student body. The program will also allow minority medical and dental students to spend summers and a full year gaining research experiences and establishing a foundation upon which they can build research and academic careers. At steady state, the program will provide annual support for at least 58 students (including MSD graduate assistants) across all components. Through MSD, UNC-CH will strengthen and expand current programs, and will develop additional programs to enhance the research competitiveness of underrepresented minority students at the undergraduate, graduate, and medical/dental school level to facilitate their careers in biomedical research.

MINORITY GRADUATE EDUCATION PROGRAM PROPOSAL ABSTRACT

The Minority Graduate Education Project at the University of the North Carolina at Chapel Hill
will have three major purposes: To further enhance the education and production of underrepresented minority Ph.D. recipients from UNC-CH science and math graduate programs. To expand an undergraduate component to increase the participation of UNC-CH minority undergraduate students in research with UNC-CH science and math faculty members and encourage those students to pursue graduate studies in those discipline.
To expand the summer research program to support fulltime summer research for undergraduate students, and prospective graduate students, primarily from other institutions to work with U NC-CH science and math faculty members. Although UNC-CH has a very positive history in enrolling and graduating minority graduate students, the MGE project will serve as a catalyst to create an even more supportive culture and will: initiate support for an increased number of underrepresented graduate minority students entering science and math Ph.D. programs at UNC-CH; provide support for in-depth research experiences in the science and math for underrepresented minority undergraduate students at UNC-CH; and provide support for in-depth summer research experiences in science and math at UNC-CH for underrepresented minority undergraduate students.

The Tissue Analysis Core will provide the Program Project with histological and immunohistochemical analysis of cells grown in culture, explants grown as xenografts in athymic mice, and human tumor specimens which will be analysis for markers uncovered during laboratory investigations. We view the analysis of the signal transduction cascade in clinical human specimens as the ultimate test of the discoveries made in the cell culture and xenograft systems. The use of human specimens by members of the specific projects has already occurred and continues. Dr. Frierson will use his immunohistochemical expertise to interpret antibody staining in cell culture, experimental animal, and clinical human prostate cancer specimens.

The Minority Student Development (MSD) Program will assist UNC-CH in enrolling and supporting increased numbers of students from underrepresented minority groups. The cornerstone of MSD at UNC-CH will be mentoring and will consist of multiple components involving UNC-CH undergraduate, graduate, medical, and dental students. Moreover, undergraduates from other schools will be involved via a summer research program to form a pipeline to UNC-CH graduate programs (and to other graduate programs as well). The program will build on the strengths of UNC-CH's strong research activities and its efforts in enhancing and promoting diversity among its graduate and professional student body. The program will also allow minority medical and dental students to spend summers and a full year gaining research experiences and establishing a foundation upon which they can build research and academic careers. At steady state, the program will provide annual support for at least 58 students (including MSD graduate assistants) across all components. Through MSD, UNC-CH will strengthen and expand current programs, and will develop additional programs to enhance the research competitiveness of underrepresented minority students at the undergraduate, graduate, and medical/dental school level to facilitate their careers in biomedical research.

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SES-0548858
Henry Frierson
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

SES-0549031
Robert Schwab
University of Maryland, College Park

SES- 0548909
Steven Ullmann
University of Miami

SES-0549057
Anne Donnelly
University of Florida

SES-0548986
Orlando Taylor
Howard University

The goal of the Atlantic Coast Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (AC-SBE) Alliance, consisting of Howard University, the University of Florida, the University of Maryland at College Park, the University of Miami, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is to increase the number of under-represented minority students receiving PhD degrees in the social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences and ultimately entering the professoriate. All five universities are among the nation's leaders in awarding PhDs in the SBE fields to underrepresented minority students. The plan for the AC-SBE Alliance includes elements designed to help students at each step as they move from undergraduate school into graduate programs and onto the professoriate. The consortium has four objectives: (1) Recruit and prepare undergraduates to pursue a PhD in SBE fields, (2) Assist students in the transition from undergraduate to graduate study, (3) Retain PhD students and increase degree completion rates, and (4) Prepare future SBE faculty for success. Although each of the five schools in the AC-SBE alliance has unique features, the AC-SBE Alliance will include a number of overarching activities that will involve all five universities. For one example, the Alliance will build upon Howard University's Summer Institute that prepares future faculty in the STEM disciplines to launch a parallel SBE component. Also, entering AC-SBE students will be invited to participate in a one-week course Introduction to Data Analysis for the Social Sciences at the Odum Institute for Research in the Social Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Odum Institute will also offer a number of videoconference short courses for AC-SBE students. Efforts will be made to ensure that the students in the SBE Alliance have further opportunities to interact and network at conferences such as the NSF-supported EMERGE.

Broader Impacts. Through integrating the resources of the five AC-SBE Alliance institutions, AC-SBE will have a broad impact across a wide region of the country in the eventual production of SBE PhD recipients. Thus, AC-SBE will serve as a comprehensive project for recruiting, mentoring, and graduating URM students in SBE PhD programs, and to carry out strategies to identify and broadly support URM students who want to pursue graduate studies and academic careers. The norms of inclusiveness at the AC-SBE Alliance institutions and the relationships that have been forged will endure well past the termination of grant support to continue efforts to ensure the significant numbers of minority students pursue and receive PhD degrees and enter the professoriate.

The proposed SEAGEP Program includes The University of Florida (UF) as lead institution and
two primary partners . Clemson University and The University of South Carolina. SEAGEP
unites three Research Extensive institutions that combined offer PhD degrees in over 50 STEM
fields offering unparalleled opportunities for graduate studies. In 2002, the total STEM graduate
enrollment at these institutions was over 400. Secondary partners are the Florida-Georgia Louis
B. Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP), the South Carolina Louis B. Stokes
Alliance for Minority Participation (SCAMP) and the University of the U.S. Virgin Islands.
SEAGEP will also provide international opportunities for students through a collaboration with
the Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions (LACCEI) and other
Latin American and worldwide projects. SEAGEP will organize and deliver a comprehensive
program that successfully guides STEM graduate students from underrepresented groups toward
doctoral degree completion and entry into academic careers. The components of the program will
be guided by the design principles suggested by the Building Engineering & Science Talent
organization and will include targeted recruitment activities, bridging activities that prepare
students for the graduate school experience, retention activities that include faculty and peer
mentoring, professional preparation activities for entry into academic careers, and post doctoral
opportunities. The objectives of the program are to:
Increase the number of minority STEM PhD students from underrepresented groups and
prepare them for successful entry into productive faculty careers,
Develop synergistic partner relationships for institutionalizing changes that will continue
to promote diversity in STEM graduate education
Increase the pool of undergraduates from underrepresented groups who are prepared for
entry into graduate STEM fields,
Develop a model to evaluate the effectiveness of the partnership.
The SEAGEP program will be evaluated throughout the five years of the program- using
both qualitative and quantitative methods, including formative evaluation of the program
activities as they are implemented, as well as summative program impact evaluation.
The intellectual merit of SEAGEP is evident in that this Alliance includes a diverse team
well qualified to serve as PIs and facilitators of the activities designed to address the preparation
of doctoral students in creative and innovative ways, thereby increasing the numbers of
underrepresented scholars that earn doctoral degrees in STEM disciplines and enter the
professoriate. SEAGEP has been developed from a thorough understanding of the challenges
inherent in this mission as reported in the literature. Each partner has unique strengths to
contribute and benefits to realize. Through this synergy, SEAGEP will result in national models
for cultural and institutional change, and partnership effectiveness.
The Mission of SEAGEP is to create a regional partnership for enhancing diversity in
higher education by developing innovative and sustainable graduate education programs to
prepare and train students to enter STEM fields and to foster models of institutional cultural
change. When realized, it will provide a direct impact by increasing the number of minority
PhDs and will also result in broader impacts by establishing a model partnership and proven
strategies that will be widely disseminated. SEAGEP will contribute to the development of a
more inclusive, skilled, and versatile technical talent pool, strengthening the diversity of the
Nation.s workforce, particularly academia, thereby contributing to the fields that are critical to
the Nation.s economic strength, national security, and quality of life.

SES-0750385
Henry Frierson
Anne Donnelly
Carolyn Tucker
University of Florida

SES-0750663
Kim Nickerson
Johnetta Davis
Robert Schwab
University of Maryland, College Park

SES-0750657
Steven Ullmann
University of Miami

SES-0549057
Anne Donnelly
University of Florida

SES-0750683
Orlando Taylor
Florence Bonner
Angela Cole
Howard University

The grant provides three years of continued support to the Atlantic Coast Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (AC-SBE) Alliance. AC-SBE, comprised of Howard University, University of Florida (lead institution), University of Maryland at College Park, University of Miami, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, to complete a range of activities with the goal of increasing the number of under-represented minority students receiving doctorate degrees in the social, behavioral, and economic (SBE) sciences and ultimately entering the professoriate. All five universities are currently among the nation's leaders in awarding PhDs in the SBE fields to underrepresented minority students. The AC-SBE Alliance includes elements designed to help students at each step as they move from undergraduate school into graduate programs and onto the professoriate. The Alliance will continue to: (1) recruit and prepare undergraduates to pursue a PhD in SBE fields, (2) assist students in the transition from undergraduate to graduate study, (3) retain PhD students and increase degree completion rates, and (4) prepare future SBE faculty for success. Although each of the five schools in the AC-SBE alliance has unique features, the AC-SBE Alliance includes a number of overarching or "value-added" activities that involve sharing resources across the five universities. For example, the Alliance builds upon Howard University's Summer Institute that prepares future faculty in the STEM (science, engineering and technology) fields, adding a parallel SBE component. Also, entering AC-SBE students participate in a one-week course--Introduction to Data Analysis for the Social Sciences--at the Odum Institute for Research in the Social Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Odum Institute also offers a number of videoconference short courses to AC-SBE students.

Broader Impacts. Through integrating the resources of the five Alliance institutions, AC-SBE has the potential to realize a broad impact across a wide region of the country in the production of SBE PhD recipients. Thus, AC-SBE serves as a comprehensive project for recruiting, mentoring, and graduating underrepresented students in SBE PhD programs, and further to more broadly support students who want to pursue graduate studies and academic careers. It is anticipated that the norms of inclusiveness at the AC-SBE Alliance institutions and the relationships that have been forged will endure well past the termination of grant support to continue efforts to ensure the significant numbers of minority students pursue and receive PhD degrees and enter the professoriate.

1H-Thieno(3,4-d)imidazole-4-pentanoic acid, hexahydro-2-oxo-, (3aS-(3aalpha,4beta,6aalpha))-; Antibodies; Antigenic Determinants; Avidin; Banking, Tissue; Binding Determinants; Biological Preservation; Biotin; Body Tissues; Bone; Bone Formation; Bone Metastasis; Bone and Bones; Bone cancer metastatic; Bones and Bone Tissue; Bony metastasis; CHTN; Cancer of Prostate; Cataloging; Catalogs; Cell/Tissue, Immunohistochemistry; Cells; Clinical; Collection; Condition; Cooperative Human Tissue Network; Cultured Cells; Data; Data Banks; Data Bases; Databank, Electronic; Databanks; Database, Electronic; Databases; Electromagnetic, Laser; Ensure; Epitopes; Formalin; Freeze Sectioning; Freezing; Frozen Sections; Genetic; Genital System, Male, Prostate; Heterograft; Histology; Human Prostate; Human Prostate Gland; IHC; Immunohistochemistry; Immunohistochemistry Staining Method; Immunoperoxidase Technics; Individual; Investigators; Laboratories; Lasers; Malignant Tumor of the Prostate; Malignant neoplasm of prostate; Malignant prostatic tumor; Mammals, Mice; Metastasis; Metastasis to bone; Metastasize; Metastatic Cancer to the Bone; Metastatic Neoplasm; Metastatic Neoplasm to the Bone; Metastatic Tumor; Metastatic Tumor to the Bone; Metastatic malignant neoplasm to bone; Methods; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; Microdissection; Modification; Molecular; Molecular Analysis; Murine; Mus; Neoplasm Metastasis; Nucleic Acids; Numbers; Osseous metastasis; Osteoblasts; Osteoclasts; Osteogenesis; Paraffin Embedding; Pathologist; Patient Care; Patient Care Delivery; Performance; Phenotype; Post-Translational Modifications; Post-Translational Protein Processing; Posttranslational Modifications; Preparation; Preservation, Biologic; Preservation, Biological; Process; Programs (PT); Programs [Publication Type]; Prostate; Prostate CA; Prostate Cancer; Prostate Gland; Prostate Neoplasms; Prostatic Cancer; Prostatic Gland; Prostatic Neoplasia; Prostatic Neoplasms; Prostatovesiculectomy; Protein Modification; Protein Modification, Post-Translational; Protein Processing, Post-Translational; Protein Processing, Posttranslational; Protein/Amino Acid Biochemistry, Post-Translational Modification; Proteins; Radiation, Laser; Radical Prostatectomy; Reagent; Research Personnel; Research Resources; Research Specimen; Researchers; Resources; Retrieval; Sampling; Secondary Neoplasm; Secondary Tumor; Secondary cancer of bone; Secondary malignancy of bone; Secondary malignant neoplasm of bone; Services; Skeletal metastasis; Specimen; Staining method; Stainings; Stains; System; System, LOINC Axis 4; Techniques, Immunoperoxidase; Tissue Banking; Tissues; Transgenic Mice; Transplantation, Heterologous; Tumor Burden; Tumor Cell Migration; Tumor Load; Tumor Tissue; Tumor of the Prostate; Universities; Virginia; Vitamin H; Xenograft; Xenograft Model; Xenograft procedure; Xenotransplantation; angiogenesis; bone; bone neoplasm secondary; cancer metastasis; clinical data repository; clinical data warehouse; coenzyme R; data repository; design; designing; gene product; immunoperoxidase; mouse model; neoplastic; preservation; programs; relational database; repository

The project proposes to create a vision for transforming graduate education and undergraduate research-based education at the University of Florida (UF) to develop an integrative and interdisciplinary program that links all NSF funded student-oriented programs to achieve synergies and avoid unnecessary duplication of activities. The goals of the project are:
1. To integrate best practices of training grants (NSF and other) at the UF to improve the professional preparation of graduate students in the STEM disciplines;
2. To develop integration and synergies where possible in research training and educational programs;
3. To include undergraduate students where possible in these activities and to enhance their preparation for graduate studies;
4. To ensure that students from underrepresented populations are fully involved in activities associated with the newly developed Program Integration Institute; and
5. To improve interactions among existing programs by establishing the Program Integration Institute.

The four NSF awards upon which the I3 project will build include:
1. IGERT Program in Adaptive Management: Wise Use of Water, Wetlands, and Watersheds (DGE-0504422);
2. Science Partners in Inquiry-based Collaborative Education II (SPICE II) (DGE-0538407);
3. The South East Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (HRD-0450279); and
4. Graduate Research Fellowship Program (DGE-0802270)

The project's objective is to launch a small suite of professional development, educational, and training activities with students in UF?s NSF-funded and other STEM training programs. Based on the success of the components of the Program Integration Institute, the project will expand offerings and also increase the base of students to whom services are offered. It is the intent of the proposal to permanently establish the Program Integration Institute at the UF and have the institute fully funded by the university.

The overall goal of the Tissue Analysis Laboratory (the Core) is to provide technical and professional support for each Project. The Core at the University of Virginia has been in place for the past decade of the two previously funded prostate POI programs. All assessments will be made by two highly skilled, experienced genitourinary pathologists with expertise in examining mouse and human prostate tissues and in immunohistochemistry. Dr. Frierson will provide overall direction ofthe Core laboratory at the University of Virginia, while Dr. Lucia will lead the laboratory at the University of Colorado. The Core will have a large impact on the POI. as it provides tissue examination for in vivo models that compliment in vitro experiments. Comparative analysis of murine prostate cancers and clinical human prostate cancer specimens from different patient cohorts from two different laboratories will impact the field by clarifying signaling pathways in prostate cancer progression. The Core will have 3 Aims: Aim 1. Histologic analysis of cell cultures, xenografts, mouse models, and clinical human prostate tissue specimens. Specimens will be processed as archival (formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded) samples or as frozen sections. In addition, Drs. Frierson and Lucia will use their expertise as pathologists to examine the prostate glands of transgenic mice to determine histopathologic changes induced by the genetic modifications. Aim 2. Immunohistochemical analysis and optimization of antibodies, specifically to determine their utility in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded material and. if necessary, in frozen sections. Drs. Frierson and Lucia will use the avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase technique and their immunohistochemical expertise to determine optimal reagent conditions and antibody staining in cell cultures, xenografts, mouse models, and clinical human prostate cancer specimens. Aim 3. Selection, preparation, and procurement of cells for laser microdissection. Drs. Frierson and Lucia have the ability to perform laser microdissection of prostate glands from human prostate tissues, transgenic mice, and xenografts for molecular studies

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is a highly competitive, federal fellowship program. GRFP helps ensure the vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of financial support for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM and STEM education. This award supports the NSF Graduate Fellows pursuing graduate education at this GRFP institution.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.