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Minority International Research Training (MIRT) Program

Table of Contents

1. Summary
2. The Undergraduate Program
3. Graduate and Medical Student Participants
4. U.S. Faculty Participants
5. Foreign Faculty Participants
6. Current MIRT Programs
7. Contant
8. Archive

I. Summary

Since 1993, the Fogarty International Center (FIC) and the National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) (formerly the NIH Office of Research on Minority Health) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have jointly supported scientific training programs that offer international research training opportunities to qualified minority undergraduates, graduate and medical students underrepresented in biomedical and behavioral research careers.

The Minority International Research Training (MIRT) program is a component in the long-term National Institutes of Health (NIH) strategy to decrease health disparities between minority and majority groups in the U.S. The MIRT grants are designed to offer research training opportunities to qualified eligible students and faculty to participate in international biomedical and behavioral research programs abroad. The proposed training program is expected to increase awareness of international research issues and opportunities, acquaint students with a range of career opportunities in biomedical and behavioral research and encourage participants to pursue post-baccalaureate degrees and careers in biomedical and behavioral research especially related to minority health problems. The program is also expected to enhance the training efforts and international collaborative research activities of the faculty participants.

II. The Undergraduate Program

Programs give undergraduate research training priority by selecting approximately 75% undergraduate participants out of at least ten participants per year. It is suggested that undergraduate participants have completed approximately two years of coursework in a major related to biomedical or behavioral science, a minimum GPA of 3.0 and/or show other evidence of exceptional scientific interest and talent. Previous undergraduate research experience is recommended before entering the MIRT program. The duration of the undergraduate training abroad is ten to twelve weeks.

III. Graduate and Medical Student Participants

Approximately 25% of the student participants are graduate or medical students each year. Priority is given to students who wish to perform research especially pertinent to health disparities among underserved groups in the U.S. or in developing countries. Programs can support medical students who show evidence of commitment to pursuing a career in research. Graduate and medical students must be involved in original data collection. Routine clinical or lab work, coursework or training in scientific techniques alone are not the objective of the training supported by this RFA except in so far as they allow the students to be involved in original data collection. The duration of the training abroad for graduate and medical students is ten to twelve weeks.

IV. U.S. Faculty Participants

The program director is responsible for selecting and matching student participants and faculty mentors, screening training plans for foreign sites and coordinating the activities of the program in which all trainees participate. The program director is also responsible for coordinating evaluations of program participants and submitting annual progress reports and trainee tracking data to the Fogarty International Center. Other U.S. faculty participants who serve as mentors for student participants must have doctoral degrees and full-time appointments at the applicant institution or at an institution in an associated consortium. U.S. faculty mentorship may be supported at foreign sites in developing countries. If a minority faculty member is not available, any faculty member who meets the eligibility criteria may serve as a mentor.

V. Foreign Faculty Participants

International research training is planned at universities or research institutions where U.S. faculty participants have ongoing collaborative research relationships. Foreign research collaborators with doctoral degrees and full-time positions serve as mentors for students training at the foreign site(s). Foreign mentors may make short visits to the U.S. applicant institution or associated consortia institutions to participate in MIRT program associated student training and related collaborative research activities.

VI. Current MIRT Programs

Students: Please contact the relevant U.S. program director for country-specific information, necessary qualifications, eligibility, and application procedures.

T37 TW00113 Dr. Gary King Penn State University Department of Behavioral Health E-315 Henderson Building University Park, PA 16802 Telephone: 814-863- 8184 Fax: 814-863- 7525 Application Deadline: TBA Note: The Penn State University MIRT Program does not encourage applications from medical students. France: Smoking Epidemiology Senegal: Smoking, AIDS Epidemiology South Africa: AIDS Epidemiology	T37 TW00108 Dr. Fannie Gaston-Johansson Johns Hopkins University 535 N. Wolfe Street, Room 437 Baltimore, MD 21205-2110 Telephone: 410-955- 8220 Fax: 410-614- 8285 Application Deadline: November 12, 2001 (For 2002 Summer Session) Sweden A: Pain, Health Status and Quality of Life Sweden B: Muscle Physiology South Africa A: Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle South Africa B: Violence Against Women and Women's Health Australia: The Biology of Stress Note: This program is limited to students at Johns Hopkins University Schools of Nursing, Medicine, Arts & Sciences; the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Winston-Salem State University; and students whose institutions are members of the Leadership Alliance at Brown University.
T37 TW00023 Dr. Luis P. Villarreal Minority Science Programs School of Biological Sciences Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry University of California, Irvine Contact: Dr. Luis Mota-Bravo 409 Steinhaus Hall School of Biological Sciences University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA 92697-2527 Telephone: 949-824-6463 Fax: 949-824-6599 Application Deadline: March 3 Mexico: Cancer Spain: Virology, Neurobiology/ Behavior	T37 TW00024 Dr. Charles L. Ortiz Department of Biology University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA 95064 Telephone: 831-459-2247 Fax: 831-459-3636 Application Deadline: Anytime Argentina, Mexico, and New Zealand: 1) Physiology, Behavior, Population Genetics of animals in natural habitats 2) Potential Mutual Impacts of human interactions with wild animal populations
T37 TW00025 Dr. Robert Glew Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology BMSB Room 249 University of New Mexico 915 Sanford Street, NE, BMSB 249 Albuquerque, NM 87131-5221 Tel: 505-272-2362 Fax: 505-272-6587 CONSORTIUM: University of Texas at San Antonio, University of Texas at El Paso, Navajo Community (Dineh) College, New Mexico State University Application Deadline: October 1 every year Nigeria: Nutrition and Maternal/Child Health	T37 TW01401 Dr. Jordan E. Warnick Professor and Assistant Dean for Student Education and Research Office of Student Research University of Maryland, School of Medicine 660 W. Redwood Street, 324 HH Baltimore, MD 21201 Telephone: 410-706-3026 Fax: 410-706-0094 Application Deadline: Rolling acceptance, September through April Bahamas, Barbados, Brazil, Chile, China, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: HIV/AIDS Research (Epidemiology, Immunology, Molecular Biology, Public Health, Vaccine Development, Virology), Bioethics, Biophysics-Neuroscience, Cardiovascular, Epidemiology/Public Health, Oncology, Pharmacology, Vaccinology For summer research programs and applications at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and its foreign sites, please visit: http://medschool.umaryland.edu/OSR
T37 TW00032 Dr. Kim Tan Director of Project Strengthen Winston-Salem State University 601 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive Winston-Salem, NC 27110 Telephone: 336-750-2600 Fax: 336-750-2224 CONSORTIUM: Bennett College, Hampton University, Medgar Evers College, Tennessee State University,Tougaloo College and Winston-Salem State University Application Deadline: January 31 Finland (University of Helsinki): Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Cellular and Molecular Biology, microbiology, and Virology Singapore (National University of Singapore): Molecular Biology and Microbiology China (Peking University Health Science Center ): Biochemistry and Molecular Biology	T37 TW00033 Sister John Karen Frei School of Natural & Health Sciences Barry University 11300 NE 2nd Avenue Miami Shores, FL 33161-6695 Telephone: 305-899-3182 Fax: 305-899-3225 Application Deadline: January Italy: Neurobiology Jamaica: Pharmacology/Chemistry Korea: Endocrinology England: Neurobiology
T37 TW00035 Dr. Vonnie McLoyd Dr. Betsy Lozoff, Co-Director University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development 300 North Ingalls, 10th Floor Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0406 Telephone: 734-764-2443 Fax: 734-936-9288 Program Administrator: Kathleen L. Restrick Application Deadline: November 14, 2001 Chile, South Africa, China: Disparities in Child Health and Development Note: This program is only open to University of Michigan students.	T37 TW00036 Ms. Carol Bender Director Undergraduate Biology Research Program Life Sciences South, Room 348 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721-0106 Telephone: 520-621-9348 Fax: 520-626-5491 Application Deadline: At least one semester before travel. Please contact Ms. Bender for specific deadlines Countries include but are not limited to: Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Mexico, Canada, Germany, Japan, Australia, England, Spain, France, Italy, Costa Rica, Scotland, the Netherlands, Argentina, South Africa, Sweden: Variety of projects related to the work of the University of Arizona faculty sponsor and their foreign collaborators. Students must have a minimum of six months of research experience with the faculty sponsor on the University of Arizona campus and prepare a project proposal as part of their application. (The program director for this grant is Dr. Barbara Timmermann).
T37 TW00038 Dr. Eugene S. Tull Department of Epidemiology University of Pittsburgh 130 Desoto Street Pittsburgh, PA 15261 Telephone: 412-624-2961 Fax: 412-624-7397 Application Deadline: February 28, 2002 CONSORTIUM: Oakwood College, University of the Virgin Islands Trinidad: Evaluation of Health Care Delivery Barbados: Obesity Interventions, Diabetes Risk Factors and Complications Dominica: Obesity Interventions, Diabetes Risk Factors and Complications Zimbabwe: Cancer Epidemiology, Ethnopharmacology	T37 TW0039 Dr. Winston A. Anderson Department of Biology Howard University 415 College Street, NW Washington, DC 20059 Telephone: 202-806-6950 Fax: 202-806-4564 CONSORTIUM: Brown University, Dartmouth University, Yale University, Cornell University, "Leadership Alliance" Application Deadline: TBA Italy: Reproductive Biology and Cellular Biology Switzerland: Molecular Biology Ethiopia: Parasitology Mali: Parasitology Ghana: Ethnopharmacology Cameroon: Malaria, Immunology
T37 TW00044 Dr. Isai T. Urasa Hampton University Turner Hall, Room 220 Department of Chemistry Hampton, VA 23668 Telephone: 757-727-5396 Fax: 757-727-5609 Application Deadline: TBA Tanzania: Natural Product Chemistry, Microbiology, Botany, Environmental Chemistry/Environmental Health Kenya: Environmental Chemistry/Environmental Health	T37 TW00045 Dr. George B. Stefano, Co-Director Dr. Fernando Nieto, Co-Director Neuroscience Research Institute SUNY/College at Old Westbury 223 Store Hill Road Old Westbury, NY 11568 Telephone: 516-876-2732 Fax: 516-876-2727 Application Deadline: March 1 Italy, China, France: Neurobiology Note: The program is open to students in the tri-state area, but priority is given to students of SUNY Old Westbury
T37 TW00046 Dr. George V. Hillyer Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine University of Puerto Rico P.O. Box 23300 San Juan, PR 00931-3300 Telephone: 787-756-7700 Fax: 787-751-9210 Application Deadline: TBA England, Scotland, Germany, Australia, Spain, Kenya: Parasitology, Tropical Medicine, Immunology, Molecular Biology Priority will be given to applicants with collaborative linkages with the foreign sites. This program is at present open only to University of Puerto Rico (UPR) students for collaborative studies with UPR faculty and their students and mentors at the foreign site.	T37 TW0048 Dr. Bruce Weber California State University, Fullerton Department of Chemistry/Biochemistry 800 N. State College Blvd. P.O. Box 6866 Fullerton, CA 92834-6866 Telephone: 714-278-3621 Fax: 714-278-5316 CONSORTIUM: CSU, Dominguez Hills., CSU, Long Beach, CSU, Los Angeles, CSU, Northridge Application Deadline: February 15 England: Physiology, Biochemistry, Genetics, Science History, Pharmacology, Neurobiology Mexico: Neurobiology, Microscopy, Biochemistry Thailand: Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Natural Products
T37 TW00049 Dr. Michelle Williams, Co-Director Dr. Virginia Gonzales, Co-Director Daren Wade, MSW, Program Coordinator Department of Epidemiology University of Washington 1959 Northeast Pacific, Box 357236 Seattle, WA 98195 Telephone: 206-543-7559 Fax: 206-543-8525 Application Deadline: December 15 Zimbabwe: Maternal Child Health Epidemiology Peru: Traditional Healing, HIV/Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Maternal Child Health Epidemiology Ecuador: Epidemiology	T37 TW00052 Dr. Michael Kron Institute of International Health Michigan State University B-301 W. Fee Hall East Lansing, MI 48824-1315 Telephone: 517-353-8992 Fax: 517-355-1894 Application Deadline: To be announced each year in the fall Brazil: Molecular, Basic and Clinical Research in Hematology, Basic and Clinical Cardiovascular Research Bulgaria: Neuroendocrine and Autonomic Regulation of the Cardiovascular System, Molecular Genetics of Cardiovascular Disease, Molecular Studies of Environmental Toxicants. Jamaica: Research on Autism, Parenting, and Development of Low Birth Weight Babies Mexico: Neurophysiology, Neuroendocrinology, Hypothalamic Control of Female Reproductive Function in Animals Philippines: Molecular Parasitology; Development of Antiparasitic Vaccines, Immunoparasitology; Epidemiology and Molecular Biology of Human Viral Hepatitis (B, C, E, G) Spain: Molecular Immunology, Molecular Biology of HIV-1, Molecular Oncology, Molecular Parasitology Thailand: Epidemiology of Food-Borne-Pathogen Resistance to Antimicrobial Agents in Farming Communities, Studies on the Prevalence of Enteric Parasites in Dairy Cattle and Horses
T37 TW00057 Dr. Beverly J. McElmurry University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Nursing Global Health Leadership Office 845 South Damen Street, Room 1158, M/C 802 Chicago, IL 60612-7350 Telephone: 312-996-0621 Fax: 312-996-8945 CONSORTIUM: Case Western Reserve University, Columbia University, George Mason University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of California at San Francisco, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Galveston, Howard University Application Deadline: TBA Undergraduates, preference for applications received by January 30th each year. Predoctoral students and faculty, negotiated. Note: Match is made between MIRT Trainee research and host mentor research area. Thailand: Women's Health/AIDS-HIV, Breast Cancer Botswana: AIDS/HIV, Peer Health Education Brazil: Women's Health/Breast Cancer Colombia: Women's Health/Depression Malawi: Women's Health/Maternal Child Health, HIV/AIDS Peer Health Education Chile: Maternal Child Health, Community Health/Primary Health Care Swaziland: HIV/AIDS Note: Potential for additional countries with Global Network of WHO Collaborating Centres for Nursing/Midwifery Development	T37 TW00060 Dr. Robert Nicholls Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine 528 Clinical Research Building University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6140 Telephone: 215-573-0919 Fax: 215-573-9687 Belgium: Immunology, Genetics, Cancer, Biochemistry, Physiology France: Cardiobiology, Neurobiology Ghana: Sickle Cell Anemia Japan: Reproductive Biology Scotland: Molecular Biology Note: This MIRT program is open to all undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled in any U.S. institution and is, therefore, open to students outside of the University of Pennsylvania
T37 TW00067 Dr. Robert F. Pozos Department of Biology 5500 Campanile Drive San Diego State University San Diego, CA 92182-4610 Telephone: 619-594-2581 Fax: 619-594-3590 CONSORTIUM: Albany State University, UC San Diego, University of Minnesota, City College CUNY Application Deadline: TBA Canada: Ethnopharmacology Mexico: Ethnopharmacology, Cognitive Science, Public Health, Biochemistry, Cardiovascular Physiology Germany: Neurophysiology, Cadiovascular Physiology, Ethnopharmacology, Cognitive Science Finland: Neurophysiology Italy: Cardiovascular Physiology Uganda: HIV/AIDS, Kaposi's sarcoma	T37 TW00073 Dr. Raymond Sis College of Veterinary Medicine Texas A&M University Veterinary Anatomy & Public Health College Station, TX 77843 Telephone: 409-845-4889 Fax: 409-847-8981 Application Deadline: March 15 Mexico: 1) UNAM (Mexico City), College of Veterinary Medicine a) Veterinary Microbiology: Improved Diagnostics for Tuberculosis and Brucellosis b) Avian Medicine Department: PCR based detection assay for rapid identification of avian-adapted Salmonella serotypes in eggs and chicken; Production of recombinant Interferon Gamma (IFN-gamma). 2) National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico a) Vector Borne Diseases b) Epidemiology of the Elderly c) Epidemiological Studies of Human Tuberculosis d) Childhood Immunizations e) Geographic Information Systems Dominican Republic: 1) Resistance patterns to Anti-tuberculosis drugs and risk of infections to tuberculosis-associated with HIV 2) Malaria in Haitian immigrants 3) Papilloma virus 4) Epidemiology of Dengue Fever 5) Direct Observation Treatment Program for Tuberculosis
T37 TW00074 Dr. Susan C. Opava Research and Graduate Programs California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 93407 Telephone: 805-756-1508 Fax: 805-756-1725 Application Deadline: January 31, 2002 Spain: Molecular microbiology: mechanisms of anti-microbial resistance in bacterial pathogens Czech Republic: Neurobiology: role of glial cells and the brain extracellular space in pathophysiological states (perinatal and postnatal anoxia, ischemia, brain edema, tumors, aging, Alzheimer's, trauma) Peru: Nutrition in child health and development: impact and prevention of malnutrition and related illnesses Mexico: Nutrition and public health: problems of socio-economically disadvantaged populations	T37 TW00076 Dr. Eloy Rodriguez James A. Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies Natural Products Chemistry and Toxicology Laboratory Plant Biology Department Biotechnology Bldg 257 Cornell University Ithaca, New York 14853 Telephone: 607-254-2956 Fax: 607-254-2952; 607-255-7979 Application Deadline: TBA Cornell MIRT-NIH Biomedicine Drug Discovery Site 1: Amazon Basin of Venezuela, Peru and Brazil Site 2: Caribbean Islands of the Dominican Republic and Dominica Students Tasks: Field research in the area of infectious diseases in the rainforest and scuba diving around coral reefs. Laboratory research involving Cornell and Foreign scientists in medicinal chemistry and molecular medicine. Students sleep in tents, stay at remote villages and interact with local people and Indian tribes, with a focus on health issues and drug discovery.
T37 TW00077 Dr. Pauline Jolly School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology and International Health University of Alabama at Birmingham 1665 University Blvd. Ryals Building, Suite 217 Birmingham, AL 35294-0022 Telephone: 205-934-1823 Fax: 205-975-3329 Application Deadline: January 7, 2002 Bangladesh: Nutrition, Diarrheal and other Infectious Diseases Ghana: Onchocerciasis, Health Effects of Aflatoxin Ingestion Guatemala: Aging, Nutrition and Metabolism India: Societal Differences in the Treatment of Male and Female Children Jamaica: Sexually Transmitted Diseases/HIV, HIV/AIDS Education, Maternal and Child Health Care, Health Care Client Satisfaction Survey, Antibiotic Use and Resistance Peru: Parasitology, Strongyloides, HIV, HTLV-1 Trinidad and Tobago: Health Problems in Tourists	T37 TW00090 Mrs. Earnestine Baker Director Meyerhoff Scholarship Program University Maryland, Baltimore County 106-k Academic Services Building 100 Hilltop Circle Baltimore, MD 21250 Telephone: 410-455-3139 Fax: 410-455-1281 Application Deadline: TBA England: Environmental Microbiology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Neurobiology
T37 TW000132 Dr. Bettaiya Rajanna School of Arts and Sciences Alcorn State University 1000 ASU Drive P.O. Box 870 Department of Biological Sciences Alcorn State, MS 39096 Telephone: 601-877-6681 Application Deadline: TBA India: Toxicology, Parasitology, Immunology, Computer Modeling, Ecology	T37 TW000123 Dr. Malinda E.C. Fitzgerald School of Science Christian Brothers University 650 East Parkway South Memphis, TN 38104 Telephone: 901-321-3262 Fax: 901-321-4433 CONSORTIUM: St. Jude Child. Res. Hospital, LeMoyne-Owen College, and Tennessee State University Application Deadline: January 15 Brazil: Neurobiology

VII. Contact

Dr. Barbara Sina

MIRT Program Director
Division of International Training and Research
Fogarty International Center
National Institutes of Health
Building 31, Room B2C39
31 Center Drive, MSC 2220
Bethesda, MD 20892-2220
Telephone: 301-496-1653
Fax: 301-402-0779

VIII. Archive

• RFA: The most recent announcement for this program (TW-00-001) appeared in the NIH Guide November 22, 1999.

Updated January 2005 [partial]