# Summer Mentoring And Research Training: Methods In Neuroscience of Drug-abuse (SMART-MIND)

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS EL PASO · 2021 · $105,437

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
This is a renewal application of the SMART-MIND Program (Summer Mentoring and Research Training:
Methods In Neuroscience of Drug-abuse), to be conducted at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
During the original funding period, we provided an intensive summer training experience for 46 undergraduates
and 10 high school teacher-student teams from diverse backgrounds. Our overarching goal is to provide a
streamlined and effective training experience that increases knowledge and research skills in neuroscience
and drug abuse. In the next period, our goal is to continue to enrich the science education and research
training of undergraduates and high school teacher-student teams each summer with a continued focus on
neuroscience and drug addiction. The program will combine education, innovative research in state-of-the-art
facilities, training in bioethics, one-on-one and group mentoring, and professional development. Participants
will be immersed in research projects directed by a multi-disciplinary group of 12 neuroscientists with
established and funded interdisciplinary collaborations among themselves. The projects center around
behavioral and biological factors that contribute to addiction and the biochemical pathways leading to
neurodegeneration, behavioral plasticity, learning and memory. Each cohort will consist of 8 undergraduates
and 2 high school student-teacher teams. High school teachers will be guided in the development of novel
curricula, didactic seminars in science education, and various outreach activities that will foster implementation
of the learning objectives in their home high schools. Four of the undergraduates will be local UTEP or
community college students majoring in neuroscience-related fields and the other 4 undergraduates will be
recruited from outside El Paso with a focus on minority-serving institutions. This will increase the reach of the
program outside of the El Paso region while continuing our focus on promoting involvement of
underrepresented minorities in biomedical research. Specifically, this program aims at:
1) Enticing and enabling an increasing number of undergraduate students from UTEP, El Paso Community
College (EPCC) and other minority serving institutions to pursue advanced degrees in neuroscience and
related fields
2) Increase the number of high school teachers in the El Paso region with research skills in and knowledge of
neuroscience and
3) Increase the number of underrepresented minority high school students pursuing degrees and careers in
science.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10153735
- **Project number:** 5R25DA033613-10
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS EL PASO
- **Principal Investigator:** Lourdes Echegoyen
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $105,437
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-05-01 → 2022-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10153735

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10153735, Summer Mentoring And Research Training: Methods In Neuroscience of Drug-abuse (SMART-MIND) (5R25DA033613-10). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10153735. Licensed CC0.

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