Underrepresented Minority Backgrounds Research Articles

A multi-tiered mentoring community approach to research experiences for local students from disadvantaged and underrepresented minority backgrounds

IntroductionA research and mentoring program was developed to provide local first-generation students, students returning to school after a professional experience, and underrepresented minority students resources and relationships to guide them toward a STEM degree from a four-year university.MethodsA multi-tiered mentoring community was formed including direct mentoring from graduate students and faculty advisors, peer mentoring among undergraduate students from different colleges and universities, and high school students to increase the accessibility of research opportunities for this demographic. Local students were recruited from Northwest Arkansas Community College and Upward Bound to combine community college and high school students in a novel manner. The programs were integrated whenever possible to emphasize peer mentoring, including mentoring lunches, research meetings, presentation sessions, conference presentations, and professional development mentoring sessions.ResultsOn the post-program survey, students indicated the community formed in the program supported their STEM identity development, provided them with quality relationships, and developed skills valuable to completion of a STEM degree. This identity development was further evidenced by the students presenting their work at a conference and obtaining additional research positions after the summer program ended.ConclusionThe post-program scores and continued efforts of different demographics of students to pursue STEM highlight the versatility of the multi-tiered mentoring community model to serve students from different ages, backgrounds, and demographics.

Revisiting barriers to implementation of bioinformatics into life sciences education

IntroductionBioinformatics is an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of computational and biological sciences that focuses on the analysis and interpretation of large biological data sets. Although recognized as essential in the life sciences, bioinformatics is not commonly integrated in undergraduate life science education programs. Based on a national survey in 2016, the Network for Integrating Bioinformatics into Life Sciences Education (NIBLSE) published a community-sourced set of core competencies in bioinformatics education. The survey also identified barriers that prevent incorporation of these competencies into the curriculum. In the current study, the NIBLSE group reports the findings of a new survey to 509 life science educators across the US in 2022 to identify current barriers of bioinformatics integration and to determine if the landscape of bioinformatics education has changed since the 2016 survey.ResultsSimilar to previous results, a majority of respondents who currently teach bioinformatics or plan to teach bioinformatics report barriers. The top two barriers reported are students lacking prerequisite skills/knowledge and instructors lacking time to restructure course content. As in 2016, women reported experiencing barriers to bioinformatics teaching significantly more often than men; faculty from underrepresented minority backgrounds reported barriers more often than non-URM faculty; and educators at minority-serving institutions (MSIs) reported barriers more frequently than colleagues at non-MSIs. For additional insight into the barriers facing these educators, we conducted focus groups which provided qualitative data that supported the survey findings and revealed common themes including faculty perceptions of the relevance of bioinformatics in the curriculum. Despite the perceived value of bioinformatics education, many focus group members cited lack of student preparation and interest, and technological access as barriers. Participants also discussed how professional development and community support would enhance and sustain bioinformatics teaching.DiscussionTaken all together, this study indicates that challenges remain, which vary among faculty types and settings, but that more educators are attempting to integrate bioinformatics into life sciences education. In summary, our results suggest that redoubled efforts to provide training and community support to life sciences faculty is necessary.

Balancing COVID-19 Risk With Physical and Mental Wellness: Perspectives of Patients With Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases Throughout the Pandemic.

Patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) are at greater risk of COVID-19 infection and hospitalization, increasing the stress and uncertainty already associated with unpredictable conditions. These may be heightened for patients with ARDs from underrepresented minority backgrounds. This study aimed to explore patient experiences and ARD-related challenges during the first year of the pandemic. Between December 2020 and May 2021, 60-minute semistructured interviews were conducted with English- and Spanish-speaking adults, aged 18 years or older with self-reported diagnosis of ARD, via phone or videoconferencing using an interview guide on living with an ARD during the pandemic. Analysis combined methods of phenomenology and content analysis through three steps: 1) summarizing interviews, 2) iteratively refining units of meaning, and 3) axial and selective coding to determine cross-cutting themes. Study procedures were conducted by a multidisciplinary team, a majority also diagnosed with ARDs. The research team interviewed 22 patients (39.8 ± 15.7 years old; 82.8% female; 31.8% Hispanic or Latino/a/x) with ARDs. Themes included 1) information access and understanding, 2) problem solving access to health care, 3) balancing risks, and 4) mental health implications. Within these themes, patients from underrepresented minority backgrounds faced unique challenges. Patients with ARDs require direct and timely communication about their risk of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality and require increased support for psychosocial and ARD-related implications of the pandemic. Health care systems must consider ways to support patients who are balancing chronic disease management with risk reduction for contracting emerging COVID-19 variants.

Examination of the impact of the Get SET Early program on equitable access to care within the screen-evaluate-treat chain in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder.

Delays in autism spectrum disorder identification and access to care could impact developmental outcomes. Although trends are encouraging, children from historically underrepresented minority backgrounds are often identified at later ages and have reduced engagement in services. It is unclear if disparities exist all along the screen-evaluation-treatment chain, or if early detection programs such as Get SET Early that standardize, these steps are effective at ameliorating disparities. As part of the Get SET Early model, primary care providers administered a parent-report screen at well-baby examinations, and parents designated race, ethnicity, and developmental concerns. Toddlers who scored in the range of concern, or whose primary care provider had concerns, were referred for an evaluation. Rates of screening and evaluation engagement within ethnic/racial groups were compared to US Census data. Age at screen, evaluation, and treatment engagement and quantity was compared across groups. Statistical models examined whether key factors such as parent concern were associated with ethnicity or race. No differences were found in the mean age at the first screen, evaluation, or initiation or quantity of behavioral therapy between participants. However, children from historically underrepresented minority backgrounds were more likely to fall into the range of concern on the parent-report screen, their parents expressed developmental concerns more often, and pediatricians were more likely to refer for an evaluation than their White/Not Hispanic counterparts. Overall results suggest that models that support transparent tracking of steps in the screen-evaluation-treatment chain and service referral pipelines may be an effective strategy for ensuring equitable access to care for all children.

Bridging the Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Gap in Gastroenterology

Bridging the Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Gap in Gastroenterology

Fostering Community and Inclusion in a Team-Based Hybrid Bioengineering Lab Course

As cornerstones of biomedical engineering and bioengineering undergraduate programs, hands-on laboratory experiences promote key skill development and student engagement. Lab courses often involve team-based activities and close communication with instructors, allowing students to build connection and community. Necessitated by the pandemic, changes to class delivery format presented unprecedented challenges to student inclusion and engagement, especially for students from underrepresented minority backgrounds. Here, we present a multi-faceted approach for fostering inclusion and community-building in a hybrid bioengineering laboratory course. A basis for this project was an approach for team-based project work which allowed students to have hands-on experience in the lab and collaborate extensively with peers, while abiding by social distancing guidelines. Members of each student team worked together remotely and synchronously on a project. One team member executed the hands-on portion of each lab activity and the remote student(s) engaged in the project via online communication. The hybrid lab course was supplemented with interventions to further promote inclusivity and community, including instructor modeling on inclusion, team-based course content, attention to lab session logistics, and instructor communication. Students responded positively, as indicated by the median ratings in course evaluations for the four lab sections in the following categories concerning course climate (using a 5.0 scale): their overall comfort with the climate of the course (4.8 to 5.0), feeling valued and respected by lab instructor (4.8 to 5.0) and their peers (4.8 to 5.0), peers helping each other succeed in the course (4.5 to 5.0), and the degree to which the experience in the course contributed to their sense of belonging in engineering (4.2 to 5.0). When asked to describe aspects of the class that contributed to inclusivity towards differences, students cited a collaborative environment, course content on implicit bias and inclusivity, and an approachable teaching team. Overall, our approach was effective in fostering a sense of community and inclusion. We anticipate many of these initiatives can transcend instructional format to positively impact future lab course offerings, irrespective of modality.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43683-022-00081-4.

More than good seed: Cultivating investigators from underrepresented minority backgrounds in physiatric research.

More than good seed: Cultivating investigators from underrepresented minority backgrounds in physiatric research.

Stress during the COVID-19 Pandemic Predicts Psychological, Physical, and Academic Outcomes Among STEMM Students at 2-year and 4-year Institutions

Science students have faced increasingly stressful educational environments as introduction of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) forced colleges to transition to virtual instruction in 2020. The current climate might undermine efforts to engage students from underrepresented minority backgrounds in science, technology, engineering, math, and medical (STEMM) fields. Students intending to major in a STEMM field from a 2-year, community college and 4-year, baccalaureate-granting institution completed a survey about psychological stress, science self-efficacy, and mental and physical health. Results indicate that college students (N = 219; Mage = 22.72, SD = 5.14; 74.4% female) during the pandemic reported higher stress levels than national norms for this age group during the last economic downturn in 2009 and at levels comparable to students experiencing a lab stressor pre-pandemic in 2018, particularly community college and female students. Higher stress was predictive of greater anxiety, depressive, and somatic symptoms. It was also related to lower confidence in exceling in science courses across the year, completing a science degree, and, ultimately, pursuing a science career. The findings suggest short-term and long-term consequences of COVID-19 on student health and science education that educators and institutions should address in continuing efforts to diversify the future STEMM workforce.

Connecting Implementation Science, Community-Engaged Research, and Health Promotion to Address Cancer Inequities in Massachusetts: The UMB/DF-HCC U54 Outreach Core.

The Outreach Core of the U54 Partnership between the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the University of Massachusetts Boston created a new model for addressing cancer inequities that integrates implementation science, community-engaged research, and health promotion. Key elements of the approach include engaging a Community Advisory Board, supporting students from underrepresented minority backgrounds to conduct health promotion and community-engaged research, increasing the delivery of evidence-based cancer prevention programs to underserved communities (directly and by training local organizations), supporting research-practice partnerships, and disseminating findings. Our model highlights the need for long-term investments to connect underserved communities with evidence-based cancer prevention.

Association of Maternal-Clinician Ethnic Concordance With Latinx Youth Receipt of Family-Centered Care

Disparities in medical home provisions, including receipt of family-centered care (FCC), have persisted for Latinx youths in the US. To examine the association between maternal-clinician ethnic concordance and receipt of FCC among US-born Latinx youths. A cross-sectional secondary analysis of data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2017, was conducted. Data analysis was performed from January 6 to February 3, 2020. Latinx youths (age, ≤17 years) born in the US who had a usual source of care and used care in the past year, their Latina mothers (age, 18-64 years), and youths' health care clinician characteristics (eg, race, ethnicity, and sex) were evaluated using χ2 tests and propensity-score matching methods. Maternal reports on whether their youths' clinician listened carefully to the parent, explained things in a way the parent could understand, showed respect, and spent enough time with the patient. There were 2515 US-born Latinx youths with linked maternal characteristics during the study period; 51.67% (95% CI, 48.87%-54.45%) of the youths were male, mean (SD) age was 8.48 (0.17) years (30.86% [95% CI, 28.39%-33.44%] were between ages 5 and 9 years), 61.53% (95% CI, 57.15%-65.74%) had public insurance coverage, and 39.89% (95% CI, 32.33%-47.89%) had mothers who were ethnically concordant with the youths' medical care clinician. We found that for youths with maternal-clinician ethnic concordance, the probabilities of reporting FCC were significantly higher than they would have been in the absence of concordance: that the medical care clinician listened carefully to the parent (average treatment effect on the treated [ATET], 5.44%; 95% CI, 2.14%-8.74%), explained things in a way the parent could understand (ATET, 4.82%; 95% CI, 1.60%-8.03%), showed respect for what the parent had to say (ATET, 5.51%; 95% CI, 2.58%-8.45%), and spent enough time with the patient (ATET, 5.28%; 95% CI, 1.68%-8.88%). Given the increase of Latinx populations and the simultaneous shortage of underrepresented minority health care clinicians, the findings of this study suggest that increasing the number of clinicians from underrepresented minority backgrounds and ethnic-concordant parental-clinician relationships may help reduce disparities in receipt of medical home provision among US-born Latinx youths.

The impact of COVID-19 on mentoring early-career investigators: "Everything can wait. Listen more than usual and share your own struggles".

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted almost all sectors of academic training and research, but the impact on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) research mentoring has yet to be documented. We present the perspectives of diverse, experienced mentors in a range of HIV research disciplines on the impact of COVID-19 on mentoring the next generation of HIV researchers.In November to December, 2020, we used an online data collection platform to cross-sectionally query previously-trained HIV mentors on the challenges related to mentoring during the pandemic, surprising/positive aspects of mentoring in that context, and recommendations for other mentors. Data were coded and analyzed following a thematic analysis approach.Respondents (180 of 225 mentors invited [80% response]) reported challenges related to relationship building/maintenance, disruptions in mentees’ training and research progress, and mentee and mentor distress, with particular concerns regarding mentees who are parents or from underrepresented minority backgrounds. Positive/surprising aspects included logistical ease of remote mentoring, the relationship-edifying result of the shared pandemic experience, mentee resilience and gratitude, and increased enjoyment of mentoring. Recommendations included practical tips, encouragement for patience and persistence, and prioritizing supporting mentees’ and one's own mental well-being.Findings revealed gaps in HIV mentors’ competencies, including the effective use of remote mentoring tools, how to work with mentees in times of distress, and the prioritization of mentor well-being. Mentors are in a unique position to identify and potentially address factors that may lead to mentees leaving their fields, especially parents and those from underrepresented backgrounds. We discuss implications beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

The status of climate studies in the United States and Canadian dental schools: Deans' perspectives.

Institutions with a positive cultural climate make community members from all backgrounds valued and included, and treated equitably. Such an environment is optimally suited to prepare future dentists well for leading a diverse team of staff members and addressing the oral health care needs of increasingly more diverse patient populations. The objectives were to assess how many United States and Canadian dental schools had participated in a climate study at their parent institution and/or had conducted their own climate study, which topics these studies had addressed, how they collected their data, from whom they collected data, and how the findings affected these academic units. In January 2020, 54 of the 78 dental school deans in the United States and Canada responded to a web-based survey (response rate: 69%). Forty-six parent institutions (85%) and 27 dental schools (50%) had conducted climate studies. Eighty-seven percent of parent institutions assessed the climate overall and the climate for specific groups (70%), such as for persons from underrepresented minority backgrounds (67%) or different religious backgrounds (59%). Most parent institution and dental school studies utilized surveys to collect data from faculty (parent institutions: 76%/dental schools: 96%), staff (74%/93%), administrators (72%/93%), and students (72%/89%). Overall, climate study results positively affected parent institutions' and dental schools' humanistic environment (61%/63%) and the recruitment of faculty (46%/50%), students (46%/46%), and staff (41%/43%). Climate studies are a widely accepted practice at dental schools and their parent institutions. Their results can play a vital role in shaping the climate of these academic units by fostering efforts to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Latino-to-Latino: Promotores' Beliefs on Engaging Latino Participants in Autism Research.

In Latino(a) communities, promotores de salud (i.e., community health workers; promotores) are becoming critical participants in prevention, health promotion, and the delivery of health care. Although involving culturally diverse participants in research is a national priority, recruitment and retention of research participants from these groups is challenging. Therefore, there is an increased need to identify strategies for successful recruitment of participants from underrepresented minority backgrounds. Our overall study purpose was to gain promotores' perspectives on recruiting Latino(a) immigrant community members for an intervention study on autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The goal of this paper is to explore insider promotores' views on the barriers and facilitators to research participation in the Latino(a) community and learn strategies for recruiting Latino(a) participants in a nontraditional destination city. We conducted qualitative focus groups with an established group of promotores known as Latinos Unidos por la Salud (LU-Salud), who were members of a community-academic research team. Fifteen LU-Salud promotores participated in the focus groups. Focus group interviews were analyzed by using Leininger's data analysis enabler. These results will inform our partnerships with promotores and Latino(a) neighborhood agencies to increase recruitment for community-based research on promoting awareness of ASD among Latino(a) families. Promotores were credible community members able to gain community trust and committed to improving the health and well-being of their Latino(a) community, including involving them in research. Latino(a) research involvement meant facilitating community members' engagement to overcome barriers of distrust around legal and health care systems. Challenges included legal uncertainties, language and literacy barriers, health knowledge, and economic hardship. Promotores also voiced the diversity of cultural practices (subcultures) within the Latino(a) culture that influenced: (1) research engagement, (2) guidance from promotores, (3) immersion in the Latino(a) community, and (4) health and well-being. Experienced promotores, who are living in a nontraditional migration area, believe the primary facilitator to increasing research involvement is Latino(a)-to-Latino(a) recruitment. These findings will aid in building partnerships to recruit participants for future studies that promote early recognition of ASD in the Latino(a) community.

Increasing underrepresented minority cancer patient enrollment into cancer clinical trials: A systematic review.

e18574 Background: Minorities continue to be underrepresented in clinical trials despite the National Institute of Health’s Revitalization Act, passed in 1993, mandating the representation of women and underrepresented minority groups in clinical trials. Studies have shown that although Blacks represent 15% and Hispanics 13% of the cancer population, their clinical trial enrollment rates in are disproportionately low at 4-6% and 3-6% respectively. We conducted a systematic review exploring interventions aimed at improving clinical trial enrollment for racial and ethnic minorities. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Ovid PsycINFO was conducted for English-language studies of humans since 1993. Inclusion criteria included peer-reviewed, U.S.-based studies with interventions aimed to recruit underrepresented minority adult cancer patients into cancer clinical trials. We defined underrepresented minority groups as Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, American Indian/Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander. Results: A total of 2471 titles and abstracts were identified and 2324 were excluded based on the eligibility criteria. A full text review was conducted of the remaining 147 articles, of which only 9 met criteria for our review. The interventions included patient navigation/coaching (n = 4), a clinical trial educational video (n = 2), institutional research infrastructure changes (n = 1), a relationship building and social marketing recruitment model (n = 1) and cultural competency training for providers (n = 1). Studies were conducted in a variety of practice settings including national cancer institutes and community practices. The quality of evidence was limited by the heterogeneity of study methods, patient representation and bias. Several studies had a homogeneous population of Black patients. Most studies (n = 7) were single arm trials that compared results to either historical controls or those cited in the existing literature; two studies were randomized controlled trials. A statistically significant improvement in accrual was shown in three of the patient navigation interventions, one of the clinical trial educational videos, the institutional research infrastructure change and the relationship building and social marketing recruitment model. The common threads to many of these successful interventions were support through the cancer care continuum, cultural congruency of research staff and culturally catered clinical trial educational materials. Conclusions: This systematic review illustrates several mechanisms by which to increase cancer clinical trial recruitment for cancer patients of underrepresented minority backgrounds in a variety of clinical settings. Randomized controlled trials with representation of multiple races/ethnicities are needed to further explore the benefits of these interventions.

Dental students' OMFS-related experiences and interest in OMFS careers: An exploration.

While the numbers of oral maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) residents increased over time, women and residents from underrepresented minority backgrounds are still underrepresented. The objectives were to assess dental students' OMFS-related personal and educational experiences and attitudes and explore which factors correlate with their interest in future OMFS careers. Data were collected from 493 dental students in 1 dental school and 206 students from 15 other US and Canadian dental schools. The students in the national sample were more likely to have experienced an OMFS procedure themselves (64.6%vs. 50.7%; P=0.001), have shadowed an OMFS in an operating room (23.2%vs. 14.9%; P=0.009) prior to coming to dental school and to be much/very much interested in an OMFS career (36.4%vs. 12%; P<0.001) than the students at the home school. While the majority of both groups rated their experiences with rotations in the OMFS department in the dental school (68%vs. 62.5%) and in the hospital (80.3%vs. 85.7%) as very interesting, the students in the national sample were more likely to agree/strongly agree that they were satisfied with their OMFS experiences (68.1%vs. 36.3%; P<0.001) and had learned a lot from the OMFS faculty (57.9%vs. 30.8%) than the students in the home school. For both groups, the degree of interest in an OMFS career correlated with having had more personal OMFS experiences (home: r=0.28; P<0.001/other: r=0.39; P<0.001), more interesting OMFS experiences in the dental school (r=0.23; P<0.05/r=0.40; P<0.001) and the hospital (0.33; P<0.05/r=0.50; P<0.001) and more positive attitudes toward OMFS faculty (r=0.26; P<0.001/r=0.37; P<0.001). Positive personal and educational OMFS experiences and positive attitudes toward OMFS faculty were associated with an interest in OMFS careers. These findings provide a basis for developing educational interventions aimed at increasing the percentage of women and residents from URM backgrounds in OMFS programs.

Lack of Exposure to Palliative Care Training for Black Residents: A Study of Schools With Highest and Lowest Percentages of Black Enrollment

ContextThe palliative medicine workforce lacks racial diversity with <5% of specialty Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) fellows identifying as black. Little is known about black trainees' exposure to palliative care during their medical education. ObjectivesTo describe palliative care training for black students during medical school, residency, and fellowship training. MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study using Internet searches and phone communication in September 2019. We evaluated 24 medical schools in three predetermined categories: historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs; N = 4) and non-under-represented minority-serving institutions with the highest (N = 10) and lowest (N = 10) percentages of black medical students. Training opportunities were determined based on the presence of a course, clerkship, or rotation in the medical school and residency curricula, a specialty HPM fellowship program, and specialty palliative care consult service at affiliated teaching hospitals. ResultsNone of the four HBCUs with a medical school offered a palliative care course or clerkship, rotation during residency, or specialty HPM fellowship program. Three of four HBCUs were affiliated with a hospital that had a palliative care consult service. Institutions with the highest black enrollment were less likely to offer palliative care rotations during internal medicine (P = 0.046) or family medicine (P = 0.019) residency training than those with the lowest black enrollment. ConclusionResidents at schools with the highest black medical student enrollment lack access to palliative care training opportunities. Efforts to reduce health disparities and underrepresentation in palliative care must begin with providing palliative-focused training to physicians from under-represented minority backgrounds.

The Impact of Hospital Safety-Net Burden on Survival and Receipt of Chemoradiation in Anal Cancer Patients

To determine if hospital safety-net burden impacts overall survival and delivery of care in patients with anal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The National Cancer Database (NCDB) was queried for patients diagnosed with anal SCC from 2004-2013. Hospitals were categorized based on the percentage of uninsured/Medicaid-insured patients treated at each facility, with hospitals in the 0-29th percentiles defined as no safety-net burden hospitals (NBH), hospitals in the 30-75th percentiles defined as low safety-net burden hospitals (LBH), and hospitals at the 75th percentile or above defined as high safety-net burden hospitals (HBH). Patient, facility, tumor, and treatment characteristics were compared using chi-squared analysis. Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed. Overall survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Cox regression modeling was used to calculated crude and adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) with 95% CI. There were 298 HBH, 534 LBH, and 360 NBH identified with 4,669, 13,407, and 2,831 cases of anal cancer treated at each, respectively. The median percentage of uninsured/Medicaid patients treated was 31.3% (range 23.3-100%) at HBH, 11.5% (range 1.8-23.1%) at LBH, and 0% (range 0-0%) at NBH. Patients at HBH were more likely to be black or Hispanic, have incomes <$30,000, or have Stage III-IV disease (Table). Median follow-up in all patients was 39.3 months and 48.8 months in surviving patients. Five-year survival for anal cancer patients treated at HBH, LBH, and NBH was 65.5%, 71.2%, and 69.2%, respectively (p<0.0001). On univariate analysis, HBH was associated with worse survival vs. NBH (HR 1.16; 95% CI 1.04-1.29, p=0.009). On multivariate analysis adjusting for age, gender, race, Hispanic origin, insurance, income, education, comorbidities, stage, treatment modality, facility type, volume, and distance, there was no statistically significant difference in survival comparing HBH vs. NBH (aHR = 0.99; 95% CI 0.89-1.10, p=0.82). There was no difference in survival comparing LBH to NBH or HBH. For patients with Stage I-III anal cancer, odds of receiving chemoradiation did not vary by safety-net burden (HBH vs. NBH: aOR 1.04; 95% CI 0.93-1.17, p=0.46; LBH vs. NBH: aOR 0.98; 95% CI 0.89-1.08, p=0.62). High safety-net burden hospitals care for a higher proportion of anal cancer patients with underrepresented minority backgrounds, low income, and more advanced disease. Survival after anal cancer treatment and receipt of chemoradiation for Stage I-III disease were not significantly associated with hospital safety-net burden.Abstract 2366; Table 1Selected patient and tumor characteristics by hospital safety-net burden.NBHLBHHBHp-valueBlack race170 (6.0%)1340 (10.0%)770 (16.5%)<0.0001Hispanic109 (3.9%)564 (4.2%)391 (8.4%)<0.0001Income <$30,000241 (8.5%)1685 (12.6%)1049 (22.5%)<0.0001Stage III-IV868 (30.7%)4311 (32.2%)1684 (36.1%)<0.0001 Open table in a new tab

Zaida Morales-Martínez wins mentoring award

Zaida Morales-Martínez, emeritus professor of chemistry at Florida International University (FIU), is among the 41 individuals and organizations who have been awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics & Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM). The awards ceremony took place on June 26 in Washington, D.C. Known affectionately by her students as “Mama Z,” Morales-Martínez has played a key role in the success of the ACS Scholars Program, which awards scholarships to undergraduates from underrepresented minority backgrounds who are majoring in chemistry-related fields. She has also coordinated FIU’s involvement in the ACS Project SEED program for high school students. PAESMEM was established by the White House in 1995 and is administered by the National Science Foundation to recognize excellence in mentoring.

Supporting scientists from underrepresented minority backgrounds

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the developmental networks of graduate students of color participating in PROMISE, Maryland’s Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate program, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded graduate retention and support program. The authors specifically examine how underrepresented minority students gain access to needed supports through building individual mentoring relationships and broader networks of support.Design/methodology/approachThe authors rely on a case study approach to explore developmental networks and support accessed by students participating in the PROMISE program. A total of 16 students of color in STEM fields from three institutions in the University of Maryland System have participated.FindingsStudy findings reveal that scientists from underrepresented backgrounds construct and draw from diverse developmental networks that include individuals from within and outside of the academic community. Key relationships include advisors; faculty with whom they share identities, peers in and outside of their programs; and administrators. Developers play distinct roles within the networks including shaping students’ emerging professional identities as scientists and providing psychosocial support. Student agency and initiative as well as faculty engagement and programs like PROMISE further enhanced student access to mentorship.Research limitations/implicationsThis study offers unique insights into the nature, cultivation and resources gained from the relationships that make up the developmental networks of science graduate students from underrepresented backgrounds.Originality/valueTraditional notions of mentoring and support, particularly in graduate education, highlight the role and importance of the student’s advisor in their growth and development. This study is unique in its focus on the multiple relationships students of color in science form. This study offers specific insight into the nature, construction and resources gained from developmental networks formed by a group of underrepresented minority students in STEM graduate education.

New website for ACS Scholars Program

Since 1995, more than 3,000 students have participated in the ACS Scholars Program, which awards renewable scholarships to undergraduates from underrepresented minority backgrounds who are majoring in chemistry-related fields. Profiles of some of the alumni are now featured on a new ACS Scholars website initiated by ACS President Peter Dorhout, who is a strong supporter of the scholarship program. According to the ACS Scholars website, 80% of ACS Scholars earn bachelor’s degrees in the chemical sciences. More than 50% of ACS Scholar alumni choose to pursue advanced degrees. In fact, more than 280 alumni have earned a Ph.D., and more than 35 alumni have joined university faculty. Applications are being accepted until March 1 for the next class of ACS Scholars. The application form is available on the ACS Scholars website at www.acs.org/scholarsalumni.