# Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences in Genomic Medicine (SURE-GM)

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · 2023 · $155,033

## Abstract

The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience in Genomic Medicine (SURE-GM) is intended to provide exposure to
research in genomic medicine to rising juniors from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in Alabama. The
program is a collaboration of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in
Huntsville, AL. Students are recruited through mailings and, where possible, in-person visits by study staff to HBCUs in
the state. The program is designed as a two-summer experience. The first summer is spent at HudsonAlpha with a
combination of didactic and hands-on laboratory experiences intended to familiarize students with genetics and
genomics as well as basic laboratory practices. This is important, since many students who enter the program have had
little or no previous exposure to genetics, genomics, or to work in a laboratory. The second summer is spent at UAB,
working in a research laboratory under the mentorship of a senior faculty member and associates in their lab. A number
of career counseling seminars and events are provided as well. Students present a poster on their work at the end of the
second summer at UAB. During the five years of the program, 41 students from a variety of HBCUs have participated in
the program. Funding for this program is set to expire in August 2023 and an application is expected to be submitted in
response to the new Diversity Action Plan RFA to be issued this summer. Funding associated with this RFA would not be
available in time to recruit a new group of students for the summer of 2024. In order to maintain continuity of the
program, supplemental funding will allow matriculation of a group of students to attend a one-year program in the
summer of 2024. Because this would preclude commitment to a two-year program, the introduction year to genetics,
genomics, and laboratory practice will be omitted from the program and a smaller number of students will be recruited
who have had some previous exposure to work in a laboratory. Despite this change, it is important to continue to offer
the program uninterrupted, to foster established relationships of UAB and HudsonAlpha with many of the HBCUs in the
state. Hence, for the summer of 2024 supplemental funds would support a one-year program where students will have
the opportunity to choose to work either at UAB in a research laboratory or at HudsonAlpha with a faculty investigator or
a biotechnology company hosted on the HudsonAlpha campus. As in the past, seminars will be provided intended to
provide career counseling to students and an opportunity for students to present their work at the end of the summer.
Of note, this is a proposal for an extension with funds requested for the period of performance of September 1, 2023 –
August 31, 2024.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10842063
- **Project number:** 3R25HG010028-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM
- **Principal Investigator:** Gregory Stefan Barsh
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $155,033
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-09-24 → 2024-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10842063

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10842063, Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences in Genomic Medicine (SURE-GM) (3R25HG010028-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10842063. Licensed CC0.

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