# UConn Undergraduate Training Program for Maximizing Access to Research Careers

> **NIH NIH T34** · UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT STORRS · 2023 · $225,201

## Abstract

Abstract/Project Summary
This is a new proposal to start the first T34 MARC U-STAR program at the University of Connecticut
(UCONN). The UCONN program will be led by the Department of Physiology and Neurobiology
(PNB) and will bring together some of our best mentors from four well-integrated academic units: the
departments of PNB, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Biomedical Engineering, Psychology and
Psychological Sciences, and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The UCONN MARC U-STAR program
features a comprehensive recruitment plan, a well-supported mentoring structure, a group of
dedicated mentors with strong funding histories, individual and programmatic experience in mentoring
under-represented minority students, an immersive educational program, and collaborations with
existing programs at the University focused on maximizing underrepresented student recruitment and
retention in STEM fields. The MARC U-STAR program will benefit from our previous success in
implementing a Beckman Scholars Program and a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
program within the department, and our departmental involvement in university wide diversity
programs including LSAMP and the McNair Scholars Program. At its core, the MARC U-STAR
program at UCONN will provide mentoring and hands-on research experience to 7 under-graduate
students per year with each trainee receiving 24 months of direct support from this mechanism. The
program will boast a wide scope of proposed research and didactic activities, a recruitment and
retention plan that leverages local minority-serving programs currently present at UCONN including
the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP), the McNair Scholars Program, and the
BRIDGE program for incoming freshman. Each student's training and mentoring plan will be
informed by an Individualized Development Program (IDP). We expect that each trainee will complete
an honors thesis in the biomedical sciences, will present and participate in scientific conferences, will
contribute to original published works, and will gain the confidence, skills-training and experience
needed to go on to gain advanced degrees in biomedical research. We also expect 70% of our
trainees will pursuit a Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Sciences. Our specific goals are to increase the
recruitment, retention, and graduation rates of underrepresented honors students, provide trainees
with an extended opportunity to be engaged in scientific inquiry, and to develop a community of
underrepresented undergraduate scholars with a shared commitment to contribute to society by
pursuing advanced training in biomedical research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10632059
- **Project number:** 5T34GM127184-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT STORRS
- **Principal Investigator:** Xinnian Chen
- **Activity code:** T34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $225,201
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-01 → 2025-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10632059

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10632059, UConn Undergraduate Training Program for Maximizing Access to Research Careers (5T34GM127184-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10632059. Licensed CC0.

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