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Principal Investigator: Wesley B Grueber
Organization: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $135,000
Funding agency: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
PROJECT SUMMARY
This application is for a competitive renewal of R25 NS076445 to fund “Summer Program for Under-
represented Students (SPURS)”, to be renamed “Summer Program for Undergraduate Rising Stars
(SPURS)”, through the RFA-HL-21-168 mechanism. 100% of the proposed funding will be used to support
SPURS students working on neuroscience projects central to the mission of NINDS. SPURS will provide an
intensive, undergraduate biomedical research experience for talented African-American/Black, Hispanic
Latino(a), Native American/Alaska Native, Pacific Islander, first-generation, and economically disadvantaged
students in the neurosciences at Columbia University. SPURS will train 14 outstanding students each year
who are undergraduates majoring in areas relevant to neuroscience and biomedical research.Columbia
University's SPURS Program provides an intense undergraduate research experience on the campus of
Columbia's College of Physicians & Surgeons (P&S) for talented students from backgrounds that are
under-represented in biomedical research. SPURS participants are accepted from the City University of New
York (CUNY) senior colleges, including Hunter, Brooklyn, Queens, and City Colleges, as well as universities
and colleges nationwide. SPURS provides extensive training in basic and translational neuroscience
research, and enhances the likelihood that the students will achieve a career in science by pursuing an
advanced degree (M.D. and/or Ph.D.). To expand opportunities for under-represented minority undergraduate
students to participate in high quality, focused and sustained research experiences in the neurosciences, the
SPURS program leverages outstanding resources and faculty mentors in the neurosciences. Over the last
funding period, applications have soared and in the upcoming period, we propose to continue training highly
qualified minority student participants. Students perform hands-on research for nine summer weeks under the
mentorship of NINDS-supported Columbia University neuroscientists (currently 89 Columbia University
researchers receive NINDS support). In addition to specific training in neuroscience, the students have
received in-depth training in research methodology including: (a) the design and analysis of experiments; (b)
critical reading of scientific literature through journal clubs and discussions of ethics in science; (c) the
presentation of scientific results at laboratory meetings; (d) presentation of their research at poster sessions;
(e) an oral presentation of their research to an audience of scientists; and (f) career counseling. Finally, the
research training will be provided in a uniquely enriching setting that includes weekly meetings with under-
represented minority role models in biomedical research. The SPURS program addresses the critical need to
increase the pipeline of highly qualified minority trainees into neuroscience.
Terms: <Address><Affect><African American><Afro American><Afroamerican><Alaska Indian><Alaska Native><Alaskan American><Alaskan Indian><Alaskan Native><Alaskan Native American><Area><Award><Baccalaureate Degree><Bachelor's Degree><Biomedical Research><Black><Black race><Career Counseling><Career Guidance><Cities><Cultural Sensitivity><Decision Making><Degree program><Disparities><Disparity><Doctor of Medicine><Doctor of Philosophy><Economically Deprived><Education><Educational aspects><Engineering><Enrollment><Ethics><Faculty><Fear><Fostering><Fright><Funding><Generations><Genetic><Goals><Graduate Degree><Grant><Health><Hispanic><Individual><Institution><Investigators><Journals><Laboratories><Latino><Literature><M.D.><Magazine><Medicine><Mentors><Mentorship><Minority><Mission><NIH><NINDS><Names><National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke><National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke><National Institutes of Health><Native Americans><Neurosciences><Neurosciences Research><New York><Occupational Guidance><Oral><Pacific Islander><Participant><Patient Care><Patient Care Delivery><Persons><Ph.D.><PhD><Physicians><Play><Policies><Position><Positioning Attribute><Postbaccalaureate><Preparation><Principal Investigator><Qualifying><Reading><Research><Research Methodology><Research Methods><Research Personnel><Research Resources><Research Training><Researchers><Resources><Risk><Role><Scholarship><Science><Scientist><Students><Surgeon><Talents><Training><Training Programs><Undergraduate Degree><Underrepresented Ethnic Minority><Underrepresented Minority><Underrepresented Students><United States National Institutes of Health><Universities><Vocational Counseling><Vocational Guidance><biological research><care for patients><care of patients><career><career counselor><career development><caring for patients><college><collegiate><design><designing><disadvantaged student><economic disparity><economically disadvantaged><enroll><ethical><executive coaching><experience><experimental analysis><faculty mentor><graduate school><hands on research><interest><lectures><medical college><medical schools><meeting><meetings><minority student><minority trainee><name><named><naming><postbac><postbacc><posters><preparations><programs><research and methods><role model><school of medicine><social><social role><students who are disadvantaged><summer program><summer research><summer session><translational neuroscience><under served community><under-representation of minorities><under-represented minority><undergrad><undergraduate><undergraduate research experience><undergraduate research opportunities><undergraduate research programs><undergraduate student><underrepresentation of minorities><underserved community>