# Bridges to the Doctorate Program at Cal State LA

> **NIH NIH T32** · CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES · 2022 · $525,292

## Abstract

The under-participation of minority group members in the nation's biomedical research enterprise represents
the loss of a large talent pool that has not been applied towards the solution of the Nation's many biomedical
problems. As a partial solution to this situation, three institutions in the Los Angeles basin propose a
collaborative Bridge to the Doctorate at Cal State LA (B2D@CSLA) program to increase the number of
talented minority students in Ph.D. programs in the biomedical sciences. This will be done by increasing the
transfer of minority students from strong MS programs at a minority institution into PhD programs at major
research universities. These institutions are California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA), a minority
institution which awards the MS as its highest science degree, and two PhD-granting major research
institutions: the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of California at Irvine. We
propose to train each year a group of 25 minority students pursuing the MS degree at Cal State LA in a
program designed to enhance their academic and research achievement; integrate them into the broader
Southern California biomedical research community; expose them to a broad range of biomedical sciences and
scientists; enhance their transfer rate to PhD programs; and establish the foundation for their eventual
successful research careers in the biomedical sciences. B2D@CSLA seeks to further an established
environment at Cal State LA that mimics a doctoral program in many important respects: We provide a strong,
lab-based M.S. research environment where the research interests of the Fellows drive their placement in labs.
We design an academic plan for the Fellows that overcomes deficiencies in their undergraduate records. We
employ monthly discipline-specific journal clubs for Fellows to be trained in critical analysis of the original
research literature. We host three strong, weekly science seminar series throughout the academic year that
provide opportunities for Fellows and faculty to interact with academic scientists from PhD-granting institutions.
And we provide close mentoring to our Fellows to guide them through the academic process—mentoring
provided by a faculty that is itself well represented by minority group members. These best practices, initiated
and institutionalized by NIH-funded student training programs, have made Cal State LA a well-respected
magnet for minority science graduates in the Greater Los Angeles area to earn their MS degrees and proceed
to the PhD degree. This proposal seeks to expand these best practices at Cal State LA from two departments
to six departments, from one College to three Colleges, and from 6 students to 25 students.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10496851
- **Project number:** 1T32GM146700-01
- **Recipient organization:** CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** LUIS M MOTA-BRAVO
- **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $525,292
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-08-01 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10496851

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10496851, Bridges to the Doctorate Program at Cal State LA (1T32GM146700-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10496851. Licensed CC0.

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