# MARC U-STAR at CSUN: Preparing Scientists Holistically

> **NIH NIH T34** · CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE · 2020 · $229,981

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
The future of our nation requires scientific expertise to maintain our current global economic and
innovation status. To do this requires that this nation develops and trains the people who can
solve problems that we are confronting including new and emergent disease, fundamental
process that affect human health including nutrition, water safety, plant productivity, normal
cellular processes, and mental health. However, not all sectors of the population have access
to opportunities that allow them to become fully engaged in the sciences. U.S. citizens and
permanent residence belonging to certain ethnic groups are particularly underrepresented in
their participation in science (including basic biomedical sciences), technology, engineering and
mathematics (STEM) as are economically/socially disadvantaged and disabled people. We
seek to continue the Maximizing Access to Research Careers Undergraduate Science Training
and Research (MARC U-STAR) program at California State University, Northridge (CSUN).
CSUN had extensive experience with both the MARC HURT and the MARC U*STAR programs
and has successfully prepared many students for acceptance into competitive PhD programs.
Our goal is to increase their participation in basic biomedical research careers. We proposed to
accomplish this by increasing the pool of high-achieving undergraduates in chemistry, biology,
mathematics, psychology, kinesiology, physics, health sciences, and occupational and
environmental health. To increase the pool of high-achieving students, we propose develop a
new summer Molecular Biology Research Boot Camp for the College of Science and
Mathematics, to continue and enhance several levels of intervention, including Summer Math
and Language Arts for month workshop, Science 100, outreach and advisement. Some of these
high-achieving students will be selected to participate in the Junior-Senior component of the U-
STAR program and will receive further special training that will ultimately prepare them for
graduate school and lead to the Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D. We expect that these efforts will increase
by 10% over the five year period the total number of students who are eligible to apply for the
Junior-Senior component of MARC U-STAR. We shall solicit applications for the Junior-Senior
component from students enrolled at CSUN as well as from students enrolled in the local
community colleges. Historically under represented students are Afro-Americans, Chicanos and
other Latinos, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos and Southeast Asians. CSUN also
has a large population of disabled and Pell eligible students. Trainees will be selected from this
pool by the MARC U-STAR Advisory Committee which will be composed of administrators,
MARC U-STAR mentors and two MARC U-STAR trainees. The goal of this component is to
place 80% of students who complete the program in Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D. programs.
Over the history of the MARC U*STAR program which was first funded in 2000 at CSUN,
...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10108976
- **Project number:** 3T34GM008395-30S1
- **Recipient organization:** CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY NORTHRIDGE
- **Principal Investigator:** MARIAELENA B Zavala
- **Activity code:** T34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $229,981
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-06-01 → 2021-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10108976

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10108976, MARC U-STAR at CSUN: Preparing Scientists Holistically (3T34GM008395-30S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10108976. Licensed CC0.

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