# ESTEEMED LEArning and Discovery through Engineering Research at Syracuse (LEADERS)

> **NIH NIH R25** · SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $154,740

## Abstract

To maintain its position as a global leader in healthcare and medicine, the US needs to strengthen its workforce
by including greater numbers of scientists from diverse backgrounds in bioengineering and biomedicine research
careers. However, this goal is not attainable without first increasing the diversity of students in undergraduate
engineering programs, which is an acute challenge nationally. Racial and ethnic minorities, people with
disabilities, and individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds are significantly underrepresented in biomedical
engineering research. A variety of academic and non-academic factors contribute to these students’ decisions
to join an undergraduate engineering or bioengineering program. To eliminate these limiting factors, there is an
urgent need to create a diverse and inclusive ecosystem where underrepresented biomedical engineering
students feel like they belong, are expected to succeed, and are supported and mentored by an interconnected
network of faculty, staff, and peers. To achieve this goal, the ESTEEMED LEArning and Discovery through
Engineering Research at Syracuse (LEADERS) program has been developed to recruit, retain, and mentor four
cohorts of eight underrepresented students in biomedical engineering at Syracuse University who go on to join
doctoral programs and subsequently lead independent research careers in bioengineering, biomedicine, and
behavioral research. The ESTEEMED LEADERS program will shift the current paradigm of the limited number
of students from diverse backgrounds in bioengineering at Syracuse to a new ecosystem of inclusive research
excellence that promotes attaining a doctorate through a deliberate, focused, and well-resourced approach to
attracting and advancing these talented young people. We will introduce the concepts and skills needed to
achieve these aims via rich programmatic support and activities during the six-week summer bridge program.
These concepts and skills will be reinforced in the first academic year, and the students will master them by the
end of the second academic year. These goals will be accomplished through four programmatic pillars—Aim 1:
Boost students’ confidence in their academic abilities. Aim 2: Engage students in immersive research
experiences in bioengineering and biomedicine research. Aim 3: Provide focused mentoring and skill
development. Aim 4: Enhance students’ perspectives on the impact of bioengineering careers on society. These
collective experiences and authentic research training over the two years will enable students to transition into
the Renée Crown Honors Program. In Honors, students will receive more support to enable their development
of an Honors theses and their pursuit of graduate school. Thus, the program's overarching mission is to increase
the numbers of underrepresented bioengineering students who pursue the PhD or the MD/PhD, and so
contribute to the nation's need for a more diverse research workforce.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10438111
- **Project number:** 1R25EB033077-01
- **Recipient organization:** SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Shikha Nangia
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $154,740
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-15 → 2026-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10438111

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10438111, ESTEEMED LEArning and Discovery through Engineering Research at Syracuse (LEADERS) (1R25EB033077-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10438111. Licensed CC0.

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