Fostering Innovation & Research Excellence Undergraduate Program (FIRE UP)
The Fostering Innovation and Research Excellence-Undergraduate Program (FIRE-UP) aims to provide underrepresented minority undergraduate students, enrolled in Georgia Colleges or Universities, the opportunity to learn more about current research in the cancer field, hear from investigators about educational pathways and career development, and explore career options in the cancer field.
FIRE-UP logically builds on the programmatic infrastructure of the parent award (DICRIDG-21-072-01) and incorporates lessons learned from a supplement received to develop and pilot an undergraduate internship program (DICR IRG-23-1026782-01). Based on the findings from the pilot and feedback from mentors and scholars, we modified the education and training curriculum and expanded the training pathways to include, a semester track or a summer track, with continued mentorship through graduation.
Programmatic activities consist of:
- Didactic seminars and professional development activities
- Faculty and “near-peer” mentorship teams
- An applied 10-week cancer research experience (Laboratory, Clinical, Population)
We will recruit undergraduate students from sophomore, junior, and senior years with expressed interest in cancer research. We will specifically target undergraduate sites where we have existing research and outreach collaborations including, Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, Georgia College and State University, and Albany State University (Morehouse School of Medicine recently established a regional campus in Albany, Georgia, with Phoebe Putney Health System). However, any undergraduate student in the state of Georgia may apply to FIRE-UP. The PI of this supplemental application has collaborated on NIH and ACS extramurally funded research projects in the past, which will be useful in co-mentoring students, fostering research, and administration of the proposed program.
Target Population and Recruitment
Each year, based on the terms of the award, we will recruit 8 undergraduate students. Undergraduate students will be recruited from freshmen, sophomore, and junior years and STEM disciplines, to spark their interest in cancer and cancer health disparities research. Recruitment will be through a multi-faceted recruitment strategy utilizing email distribution, the MSM Office of Research Development (ORD) e-Research update, MSM Intranet Page, and targeted strategies on the campuses of the undergraduate institutions, such as flyers posted on bulletin boards, announcements in university newspapers, campus e-news, and personal communications with department chairs and potential candidates. We will also advertise on social networking platforms (LinkedIn, ResearchGate, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok). Additionally, we will outreach to communication offices at Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, Georgia College and State University and Albany State University
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Fostering Innovation and Research Excellence Undergraduate Program (FIRE-UP), applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Be an underrepresented minority student enrolled full-time in an undergraduate program
- Maintain a cumulative 3.00/4.00 GPA in all course work
- Be declared or majoring in a STEM, social/behavioral science, or health-related field of study
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