UMD-REACH (Research Equity and Access in Communication and Hearing) - Only 19% of employed scientists and engineers are from racial and ethnic minorities, and even fewer (~8%) in the field of communication sciences and disorders (CSD). Creating a more diverse biomedical research work- force necessitates recruiting talented students from diverse populations early in their educational journey. The overall goal of the proposed training program is to increase the ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic diversity of individuals who will ultimately pursue careers in biomedical, clinical, and health-services research in the area of CSD, and in the professorate who will train the next generation of clinicians and scientists. The objective of this application is to start a program that will recruit a more diverse research workforce at the University of Maryland- College Park (UMD). We will implement a year-long training program that provides under-represented under- graduates at the transition point of identifying their career path with an enriched, long-term experience to conduct research in our labs. This objective is supported by the highly diverse undergraduate population at UMD, and the university’s strong commitment to increase diversity through numerous campus initiatives. The proposed program will enable the department to address barriers experienced by under-represented minorities (time, re- sources, and awareness), and dramatically increase the diversity of students participating in our exceptional research programs that span the range of research foci in CSD. We will achieve the objective of this application with the following three specific aims: (1) Increase undergraduate research participation in Hearing and Speech Sciences (and related departments) to reflect the diversity of the UMD student body, (2) Increase trainees’ future academic success and likelihood of pursuing research careers by providing mentorship and professional devel- opment opportunities, improving the diversity of the pipe-line for CSD researchers, and (3) Disseminate the programmatic R25 results so that other institutions can follow our model. The successful completion of our spe- cific aims will ultimately increase the diversity of our field, locally and nationally, allowing us to develop a broader understanding of communication impairments across diverse populations, and to be better prepared to provide evidence-based clinical services to these populations. Our program will be innovative because it: (1) weaves together multiple components of research training that remove barriers and allow for student success (hands-on laboratory research experiences, professional development training, and individualized mentoring), (2) includes multiple types of mentors (one or more research mentors, peer and near-peer mentors within the lab, and career ambassadors, collaboration with the BIPOC-CSD network), (3) targets undergraduate students at a point of transition in their academic career, (4) focuses specifically on the field of CSD, and (5) provides research oppor- tunities in a highly active, productive, and funded department with an excellent record of producing PhDs who successfully obtain jobs in research.
