NINDS Increases Neurological Research Opportunities for Minorities

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For release: Monday, March 16, 1992

In an effort to increase minority participation in neurological sciences research, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently made 23 awards to grantee institutions for recruitment of minorities into biomedical and behavioral research programs. These awards provide valuable opportunities for minorities from the undergraduate level to the faculty level to gain research experience at leading grantee institutions supported by NINDS.

The grants allow minority students to interact with senior scientists, to contribute to innovative research projects, and to enhance research skills and knowledge in areas of neurological and brain research. The NINDS awards totalled approximately $517,000.

"NINDS's program increases significantly the number of minority students and scientists entering and remaining in neurological research careers," said Dr. Murray Goldstein, director of the NINDS. "These training opportunities enable more minority students and scientists at universities, medical schools and research institutions to participate in studies aimed at understanding, diagnosing, treating, and preventing brain and nervous system disorders, while addressing a probable shortage of researchers and scientists in the coming years."

Attending some of the nation's most prestigious undergraduate and graduate institutions and medical schools, the students and scientists belong to minority groups that are underrepresented in brain and nervous system research, such as African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders.

In addition, NINDS supports a summer research training program in the neurological sciences to increase intramural training and research opportunities for minorities. In 1991, 98 students were selected for the summer program, including 51 minority students and 41 female students. Among the group were 13 high school, 59 undergraduate, 4 graduate, and 22 medical students. Thirty-nine (34 percent of the NIH total) presented posters at the NIH Summer Research Day.

A partial list of participating students and their academic institutions is attached.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, one of the 13 National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the primary supporter of brain and nervous system research in the United States. The NIH is an agency of the U.S. Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services.

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National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Minority Predoctoral Students Supported by the NINDS in Fiscal Year 1991

Ronald Anglade, Brown University

Hector BeltrandelRio, Michigan State University

Charebia Cardwell, Wake Forest University Medical Center

Jose Cordero, Tufts University

Cynthia Dolorfo, Salk Institute

Maria Gonzalez, Case Western Reserve University

Teresa Hermida, Smith College

Jon Hernandez, University of California, Los Angeles

Ellie Lee, Emory University

Cliffton Lewis, University of Colorado

Saqura Long, Michigan State University

Carla McNally,University of California, San Diego

Ifeoma Okoronkwo, Memorial Hospital for Cancer and Allied Diseases

John Ortega, University of Illinois

Joseph Osborne, Rhode Island Hospital

Linda Payne, University of Tennessee, Memphis

Catherine Pinal, University of California, Los Angeles

Justin Robinson, Emory University

Tyrone Rodriguez, Baylor College of Medicine

Juan Rubero, Brandeis University

Maria Sanicolas, University of California, San Diego

Stanley Thornton, Vanderbilt University

Nicole Weekes, University of California, Los Angeles

Minority Students Receiving Training in the NINDS Summer Program in the Neurological Sciences, Fiscal Year 1991

Javier Amadeo, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine

Dionne Burnett, Yale University

Mark Coleman, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Bonita Coe, Howard University College of Medicine

Samuel DeJesus, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Daniel DeUgarte, Harvard University

Sean Francis, Case Western Reserve Univ. School of Medicine

Gonzalo Graupera, Johns Hopkins University

Carmen Guerra, University of Rochester School of Medicine

Michael Holder, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

Lenore Joseph, University of Minnesota Medical School

Cadir Lee, Stanford University

Jaime Mancilla, University of Maryland

Kelly Mack, University of Maryland, Eastern Shore

Lois Melchoir, Howard University College of Medicine

Enrique Perez University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus

Glenda Rios, University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine

Debbie Riding, Oklahoma State University

Jorge Rubi, Towson State University

Joner Tomas, University of Maryland

Rani Whitfield, Southern University

Last Modified August 7, 2009