Abstract:
This proposal seeks to develop a “Diabetes Institute Summer Interprofessional Research
Experience (DISIRE)” program to train undergraduate students. The vision for the DISIRE
education program is to increase the number of underrepresented minority and Appalachian
undergraduates who enter graduate programs in the biological sciences, health sciences or
related fields. The Diabetes Institute at Ohio University will recruit a diverse group of 10
participants each year with a focus on minority students, first-generation Appalachian students,
and persons with disabilities with little to no exposure to biological and health sciences graduate
programs. DISIRE participants will train with experienced diabetes researchers in the 10-week
summer program. Recruitment will target upperclassmen from minority serving institutions,
small liberal arts colleges, and Appalachian universities without graduate programs or extensive
education in diabetes. The DISIRE curriculum will be interdisciplinary-focused consisting of
online instruction, weekly seminars, journal club didactics, a group capstone project, and
research with a mentor. The online course will be an abridged version of “Diabetes: From
Bench-to-Bedside”, an existing, comprehensive course that explores the genetics, physiology,
treatment, self-management, and psychosocial care of diabetes. An innovative component of
the DISIRE program is the group capstone project, a learning-pathway experience designed to
encourage participants to think critically, develop problem-solving skills, encourage goal setting,
and promote teamwork. The capstone project will address an important issue or problem about
diabetes on their college or university campuses. Thus, the capstone project will not only benefit
the participants’ communities, but also serves to foster a life-long community engagement of
participants, as they will be able to directly observe the benefit of the implementation of scientific
knowledge. The apprentice-based research experience, which will develop research skills and
build self-efficacy in the participants, is a critical component of the DISIRE program. Each
participant will design a research project with their selected mentor and be involved in all
aspects of conducting research from hypothesis generation to dissemination of findings. The
final research projects will be presented at a research symposium in conjunction with the other
summer undergraduate programs and graduate programs at Ohio University. Project mentors
will maintain a long-term mentoring relationship with participants and provide guidance and
encouragement to the participants during the application process to graduate school.
