# University of Washington Stipends for Training Aspiring Researchers (STAR) Program

> **NIH NIH R25** · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · 2024 · $97,803

## Abstract

2021 – 2026 UW STAR PROGRAM – PROJECT SUMMARY ABSTRACT
The STAR Program completed its ninth year of funding in 2019 with 91% of program
participants enrolled in or completed biomedical graduate or health professional degrees.
The program has been an integral contributor in effectively training underrepresented
minority, first generation, and economically disadvantaged, students to pursue health,
biomedical, and biobehavioral research pathways. The long-term objective of the
Program’s next five years is to expand its initiatives to increase from 71% to 80% the
number of participants, entering and completing biomedical and behavioral majors and
eventually matriculating into professional/graduate programs. To fulfill this objective, the
UW STAR Program team proposes to bring together an expanded set of activities and a
collaborative team of faculty and staff to implement its initiative. While continuing to
strengthen students’ academic and technical skills, the Program will also focus on helping
participants understand the role of heart, lung, and blood-related research and the
subsequent impact of this research in addressing health disparities in underrepresented
communities. The overarching objective of the University of Washington STAR Program
is to develop innovative programming that will provide underrepresented minority (URM)
students, first generation students, economically and educationally disadvantaged
students, and/or students with disabilities with the conceptual underpinnings and
laboratory experiences that support their goals of pursuing post-undergraduate studies
leading to MD, MD/PhD, PhD, and Masters’ degrees. To fulfill this objective, the STAR
Program will consist of four (4) major components: Teach Lab: a 10 week program that
will introduce rising sophomore and junior level students, without any formal
biomedical/behavioral laboratory experience, to the required, fundamental techniques
and methods of research. The Research Laboratory component will place sophomore
through non-graduating senior/1st year graduate/rising 2nd year medical students for 10
weeks, in mentored laboratory experiences with University of Washington staff involved
in NHLBI-focused research. Retention Activities to keep participants excited about
NHLBI-focused research through researcher-led lectures; encouraging participation in
academic-year laboratory experiences at students’ respective institutions using skills
learned in Teach Lab; and, on-going, holistic advising by program staff. And finally, an
annual Evaluation that will lead to fine-tuning/refinement of Program activities, based on
participant feedback.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10925165
- **Project number:** 5R25HL103180-14
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael A Portman
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $97,803
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2010-06-01 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10925165

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10925165, University of Washington Stipends for Training Aspiring Researchers (STAR) Program (5R25HL103180-14). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10925165. Licensed CC0.

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