April 6, 2007 — A National Institutes of Health grant was recently renewed for the University of the Virgin Islands to the tune of $1.4 million. UVI will receive a total of $1,415,466 over a four-year period, which began on March 1.
The money will fund UVI's minority biomedical research support (MBRS)-research initiative for scientific enhancement (RISE) program. The MBRS-RISE Program was established at UVI in 1985 to enhance biomedical research for faculty and students, according to a UVI news release.
Teresa Turner, a UVI Professor and director of the MBRS-RISE program, said she is happy about the renewal because receiving funding is very competitive.
“We had to have a very well-crafted proposal,” Turner said, according to the news release. The grant process took more than a year and required the commitment of UVI’s entire division of science and mathematics staff, Turner said. “We really work together,” she said.
The funding will cover a new science and mathematics honors program at UVI. The honors program will provide extra exposure to ensure that students develop their talents to the degree needed to be competitive for the best doctoral programs in the nation. It will focus on strengthening students’ performances in gatekeeper courses such as calculus.
The program, still in the development phase, is scheduled to be implemented in the Fall 2007 semester, the news release said. It will involve adding an extra day of class for student participants, having faculty work closer with students and challenging students to do more than the curriculum requires. The honors program is modeled after a similar program developed at the University of California at Berkley, Turner explained. That program has a 90-percent success rate.
Another new initiative covered by the funding is the 10-day Princeton Review course, a nationally recognized tutorial system that prepares students to take major standardized admission exams. The course will focus on preparing science and math students to take the graduate record exam (GRE).
The funding will also cover existing UVI MBRS-RISE initiatives, including research training at UVI and other research universities and institutions, travel to scientific meetings and conferences, hosting visiting scientists and external evaluation of the program, the news release said.
For more information about UVI’s MBRS-RISE program, contact Turner at 693-1382.
