Integrating undergraduate research/research training into the curriculum at a minority‐serving institution

Abstract

In an effort to integrate undergraduate research experience in the curriculum at Hampton University (HU), a Historically Black University, two successful cancer biology and epidemiology curricula were developed in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI). These curricula included the development of a total of four research‐intense undergraduate courses in cancer biology and epidemiology: a cancer biology and bioinformatics lecture course; a cancer epidemiology lecture course; a cancer biotechnique laboratory course; and a cancer seminar/workshop course. These courses were open to any student who had at least one year of general biology. In addition, a subset of students were recruited not only to participate in these classes but to also spend one summer at either UPCI or the State University of New York ‐ Downstate School of Public Health engaging in cancer and/or epidemiology research. Students enrolled in these curricula gained knowledge in cancer biology, various forms of epidemiological study designs, data analyses, hypothesis generation, results interpretation, manuscript writing, and hands‐on experience in cancer research. This collaboration resulted so far in 22 poster presentations and 7 publications. Five of the 7 publications are co‐authored by students. About 90% of the students involved in the summer research matriculated in either graduate or professional school after graduation from HU. In conclusion, the inclusion of undergraduate research experience in our curricula has enhanced the ability of our students to matriculate in and graduate from graduate and professional schools.This work was supported in part by two National Cancer Institute P20 grants: 5P20CA101445 and 5P20CA132532.