PREP Participating Institutions – National Institute of General Medical Sciences

  

Are you interested in pursuing a Ph.D. in science?  Are you a minority student? Have you graduated within the past 36 months?  If so, PREP (Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program), funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), might be the right program for you.

PREP was established in order to encourage underrepresented minorities who hold a recent biomedically-relevant baccalaureate degree to pursue a research doctorate.  Several research universities around the country have received R25 grants from the NIGMS, allowing them to accept between 4 to 12 students for 1 to 2 years of participation in PREP.  The PREP scholars’ responsibilities are similar to that of a Ph.D. student, in that they participate in laboratory research (70% of the time), take graduate courses, participate in scientific conferences, and work closely with university professors and students.  Some institutions also provide GRE prep courses, further helping students in becoming strong Ph.D. candidates.  All students receive stipends while participating.

To find out which universities are accepting applications for PREP click on the map below:

Check in with Brenda via email for updates about the program!

 

“Bad Project” Music Video, VMA nominee 2011???

Ever wonder what it would be like if your lab suddenly transformed into a super awesome Lady Gaga music video?  Postdocs at the Zheng Lab at Baylor College of Medicine did, and put their creativity on full blast as they sang and dance to their own parody of “Bad Romance,” aka “Bad Project.”  Thanks to UT Southwestern for sharing this video, and to the Zheng Lab for belting out exactly what we feel from time to time at the bench!

 

Spanish & English Materials for pGLO™

Are you interested in the pGLO™ experiment? Learn more about this hands-on laboratory activity with a FREE download of BioRad’s pGLO™ experiment power point.

On April 4, 2011, Rosa Meza-Acevedo will be presenting these power points in Spanish and English for attendees of the Teacher’s Teaching Teacher’s conference in Lima, Peru.

 

Teaching Fluorescence through Paint!

Why is fluorescence an important tool to biologists?

Just ask our students at East Oakland School of the Arts!  CBST Research Associates Brenda Salantes and Rosa Meza-Acevedo taught EOSA physiology students the importance of fluorescent markers in biological organisms.  By using seran wrap, ultraviolet paint, markers, an ultraviolet lamp and a few other tools, the science lecture quickly evolved into a creative classroom activity.

Our students did a fantastic job drawing out their cells, but the best part was revealing their colorful works of art while the paint was exposed to UV light….