UCLA has been awarded a $2 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to improve science education for undergraduates at UCLA and students in Los Angeles-area schools.

Fred Eiserling — UCLA dean of life sciences, professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, and director of UCLA’s Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program — said the grant will enable UCLA to expand outreach programs that improve the science preparation of students in urban public schools, expand programs for undergraduates who are preparing to become science teachers in Los Angeles schools, expand an innovative online writing program and support outstanding Howard Hughes Undergraduate Researchers.

Faculty from UCLA’s College of Letters and Science, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Medicine, and Graduate School of Education & Information Science will participate in UCLA’s HHMI-funded programs, Eiserling said.

A panel of scientists and educators reviewed proposals from 189 research universities, and HHMI awarded 44 of them a total of $80 million to “address the challenges of a rapidly changing and increasingly interdisciplinary science,� HHMI said.

“Through these grants, the Institute is providing resources to help universities bring their undergraduate science teaching up to the level of their research programs,� said HHMI President Thomas R. Cech, a Nobel Prize–winning biochemist.

At UCLA, the programs that will be supported by the HHMI grant include:

· UCLA’s Howard Hughes Undergraduate (HHUG) Researchers Program enables outstanding students committed to research careers to conduct research with faculty mentors and participate in an advanced seminar where they discuss the latest scientific findings published in major research journals.

Lilit Garibyan, a 2001 UCLA graduate of the program who is now pursuing joint M.D. and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard Medical School, described the UCLA program as outstanding. “Without this remarkable program, I would not be where I am today,� Garibyan said. “I learned about neuroscience, immunology, microbiology, and biochemistry in the seminars. I learned how to read research papers critically, and learned about new research techniques. UCLA is so supportive of undergraduate research, which allowed me to learn, while also creating knowledge.� She plans to continue research and treat patients, perhaps as an oncologist.

The UCLA faculty members in this program are Michael Carey, John Colicelli and Lily Wu.

“Undergraduate research is an important component of UCLA’s undergraduate curriculum, and Howard Hughes Research Scholars include some of our best researchers,� said Judith Smith, vice provost for undergraduate education in UCLA’s College of Letters and Science, professor of physiological science, and co-director of UCLA’s Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program.

· PRISM (Pre-Instruction in Science and Mathematics) broadens access to science by annually training 40–50 students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds who are interested in research careers in the biological sciences during two weeks over the summer. This program is an expansion of UCLA’s highly effective Math and Science Scholars (MS2) program that helps students — predominantly minority and low-income — to successfully make the transition to UCLA and succeed in the sciences. Students in this program have earned grade-point averages half-a-point higher than their counterparts who are not enrolled in the program.

· Programs that promote the development of future college and university faculty in the biological sciences are being expanded. UCLA’s Science Teacher Preparation (STEP), for undergraduates preparing to be science teachers in Los Angeles schools, has produced 19 highly qualified teachers who are already teaching in some of the lowest-performing urban high schools in Los Angeles, determined to make a difference. UCLA will enhance science teacher education, and outreach to Los Angeles school students to attract them to careers in science, mathematics and technology.

· UCLA will expand its successful “Science and Mathematics Achievement and Research Training for Students� (SMARTS) to attract students from urban Los Angeles Unified School District high schools into science and engineering majors. SMARTS, headed by Enrique Ainsworth, offers a six-week summer program that includes instruction in science and math, and research. “Outreach programs such as SMARTS and PRISM have improved the science preparation of students in urban public schools and provided assistance to these students once they have been admitted to UCLA,� Eiserling said.


· UCLA’s College of Letters and Science will develop a new yearlong general education “cluster� course called “Biotechnology and Society,� which will address issues of genetics and recombinant DNA technology. The college’s cluster courses, designed for first-year students, emphasize critical thinking and writing, cross traditional academic boundaries, allow students to think about significant topics in depth for a year, and are taught by some of UCLA’s most renowned scholars and skilled teachers.

· UCLA will expand to the introductory biological sciences use of Calibrated Peer Review (CPR), an Internet-delivered writing tool that requires students to think more deeply about science and critique the writing of their peers. When used in UCLA chemistry courses, CPR improved student performance on exams by about 10 percent compared with traditional instruction. CPR was invented by Orville Chapman, associate dean for educational innovation at UCLA, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, and co-director of UCLA’s Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program. In addition to funding from HHMI, the National Science Foundation has also provided funding for this program.

· Advanced biological science graduate students interested in higher education careers will, under faculty supervision, create, develop and offer seminars in their fields.

Since 1988, HHMI has awarded $556 million to 236 colleges and universities in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. HHMI’s principal mission is biomedical research.

Online resources:

See the news release and related links from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute here.

UCLA’s Howard Hughes Undergraduate Researchers Program’s Web site is: www.care.ucla.edu.