OMA&D Lands CAMP Grant, STAR Grant Renewal

The UW Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity recently received some good news regarding a pair of federal grants. OMA&D was awarded a new $1.9 million grant funded by the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) in the U.S. Department of Education and the Stipends for Training Aspiring Researchers (STAR) Program received a five-year grant renewal from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

Under the CAMP grant, the UW will provide academic, personal and financial support to 50 students annually who are engaged in, or whose parents are engaged in, migrant and other seasonal farm work, and are enrolled or admitted for enrollment on a full-time basis in their first academic year.

Eligible students will benefit from services such as advising, educational planning, career and personal assessments, student stipends and tutoring that will provide the necessary information, support and skills for them to successfully complete their first year at the UW and continue their postsecondary education through graduation.

Students will also be eligible to participate in the Summer Transition Program and will have access to supplemental instruction in a variety of courses. Along with academic support, parents and students will receive information about the college applications process, financial aid and campus resources available in both Spanish and English formats. Participants will also be connected to key community resources, employment referrals and childcare support.

Dr. Gabriel Gallardo, OMA&D Associate Vice President for Student Services and Academic Support Programs, is the principal investigator for the grant.  Funding for the program began July 8 and will continue through June 30, 2015. For more information, please contact Dr. Gallardo at gabegms@uw.edu or 206-221-2834.

Intern Dennis McLeod, left, with STAR mentor Dr. Steve Schwartz

Now in its 17th year, the STAR Program is a collaboration between the University of Wash­ington School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and OMA&D. Its mission is to increase the number of underrepresented students enter­ing cardiology, pulmonary, hematology and sleep research. The STAR Principal Investigator is Dr. Michael Portman, a UW professor of pediatrics in the Division of Cardiology, while Karlotta J. Rosebaugh, Director of OMA&D Health Sciences Center Minority Students Program, is the STAR Summer Program Coordinator.

From 2010-15, STAR will provide at least 20 paid student internships each summer. Participants will have the opportunity to work with biomedical or biobehavioral projects in the laboratories of preeminent UW heart, lung, blood and sleep-related researchers. The program includes a weekly salary, summer housing allowance and round-trip airfare to and from the program location.

The program is open to junior and senior level undergraduates and en­tering graduate students pursuing a master’s or Ph.D. in the biomedical or biobehavioral sciences. Students are recruited both locally and nationally. Criteria for eligibility require all participants to be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and a member of a group underrep­resented in the biomedical or biobehavioral science fields. Additionally, undergraduates must have a 3.0 or greater grade point average and entering graduates must be nominated by their department.

For more information regarding the application process or mentoring opportunities, please contact Karlotta J. Rosebaugh at karlotta@uw.edu or 206-221-6151.