LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Emil Bogenmann, PhD, EdD, director of Research Education at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, received a five-year renewal grant of $884,000 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to provide biomedical research training to disadvantaged college undergraduates. Bogenmann’s program, the Short-Term Education Program for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP), draws students with disabilities, those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, as well as students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
“We are thrilled to receive continued funding and national recognition for this critical training program. Given our location in Los Angeles — a city with a large and diverse population — we are determined to help develop the next generation of scientists who will represent the communities we serve,” says Brent Polk, MD, director of The Saban Research Institute.
The STEP-UP center at The Saban Research Institute, one of only three such sites in the nation, has faculty mentors located at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, and at other sites in the US. This program has trained over 130 students since 2007. Many of these students are now enrolled in doctoral or professional degree programs.
“It is safe to say that after my summer research experience, I will pursue a higher educational degree in biophysics or biomedical research. The program and the inclusion of young fresh minds in cutting-edge research has greatly impressed me. There is something fulfilling about deciphering things you see in everyday life,” says Ramon Martinez, who enrolled in the STEP-UP program while he was an undergraduate at University of California, Berkeley, and has been accepted into a doctoral program at the University of Michigan.
The STEP-UP program is unique as it focuses on increasing participation of students from backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical research. Investigations performed by students are relevant to pediatric and adult illnesses, including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and other maladies that disproportionally affect under-resourced communities. Now in its sixth year, STEP-UP recruits 21 talented undergraduate students from across the country to participate in a 10-week paid summer internship. The program provides career development opportunities and a trip to the National Institutes of Health science symposium where all students present their research.
“Our trainees are eager to learn and they dream that one day they will be researchers and doctors at a prestigious institution such as Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where they can make a world of difference for their communities,” Bogenmann says.
About Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has been named the best children’s hospital in California and among the best in the nation for clinical excellence with its selection to the prestigious US News & World Report Honor Roll. Children’s Hospital is home to The Saban Research Institute, one of the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States, is one of America's premier teaching hospitals and has been affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932.
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