A Drug Discovery and Biomedical Research Training Program for Underserved Minority Youth

Abstract

The Maryland Action for Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical Research (MADDPR) Program provides hands-on lab experience and mentoring to underserved minority high school students. Over 4 years, 93 high school students and their science teachers participated in the two-week summer camp program which was led by 15 faculty from the School of Pharmacy. Graduate student mentors led small student mentor groups. The program offered labs with a diverse set of topics ranging from drug design to applied clinical pharmacy. Across study years, student data showed that Black/African American, Hispanic and "Two or more races" groups accounted for 40, 13 and 11% of students, respectively. Survey data from pre-and post-sessions show that the MADDPR program significantly influenced students' career choices with most opting to choose future careers in life sciences, pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. Data from a demographically matched comparison group showed that the MADDPR respondents reported statistically significant higher levels of agreement with the statements "I know I would like to pursue a STEM career" (p=0.00424) and "I know I would like to pursue a biomedical science career" (p=0.0004) compared to a comparison group. The MADDPR program is supporting the STEM career exploration by minority underserved high school students to ultimately enhance the diversity of the biomedical workforce.