The White House has listed the National Science Foundation’s PROMISE AGEP for Maryland, along with the University System of Maryland’s Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation program (USM LSAMP), among organizations in the U.S. that have a commitment to the new MBK STEM + Entrepreneurship track for the My Brother’s Keeper initiative. This new MBK STEM + Entrepreneurship track includes commitments that will contribute to expanding STEM opportunities to populations that are underrepresented in these fields. PROMISE AGEP: Maryland Transformation, is an NSF AGEP-T program, led by founding partners: The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Maryland Baltimore. In 2013, the alliance expanded to include all of the institutions within the University System of Maryland. The alliance also includes partnerships with the Community Colleges of Baltimore County (CCBC), Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), and the Ana G. Mendez University Capital Campus. The USM LSAMP program for undergraduate students is led by UMBC as part of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, and has as partners LSAMP programs at the University of Maryland College Park, and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. The PROMISE AGEP is working with the University System of Maryland to further develop pipeline initiatives that will increase the functionality of professional development services for undergraduates and post-graduate students within the system.

50+ Articles and Tools

The PROMISE AGEP for the University System of Maryland has been noted for its dissemination of materials related to STEM equity and inclusion opportunities in higher education. The PROMISE AGEP has contributed to more than 50 publications and tools, including the PROMISE journal article published by Academic Medicine, and the PROMISE booklet highlighting 10 years of professional development workshops. These resources and others, such as PROMISE articles that have been published by the American Society for Engineering Education and an extension to the conversation on minority doctoral attrition by Council of Graduate Schools, have been used to guide other STEM diversity programs for graduate students at  schools such as Purdue and Cornell. The PROMISE AGEP also serves in advisory capacities for other AGEPs around the U.S.

The PROMISE MBK STEM+ Commitment

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/22/fact-sheet-my-brothers-keeper-%E2%80%93-two-years-expanding-opportunity-creating

100+ Presentations, and 500,000+ annual reach on social media

The PROMISE AGEP, along with the USM LSAMP, continue to commit to disseminating best practices to increase the pipeline and chart new pathways for underrepresented populations to have access to STEM careers. To date, promising practices from USM efforts to increase diversity in STEM have been shared in more than 100 presentations, both in the U.S. and abroad. Further, through social media avenues such as the PROMISE website, online access to the 2015 USM LSAMP Impact Report, PROMISE on Google+, and the PROMISE Director’s Twitter site, there have been more than 500,000 hits, views, and impressions. Additional social media sites that participate in significant dissemination include (but are not limited to) the general PROMISE Facebook page, the Facebook page for PROMISE at the University of Maryland College Park, the website for PROMISE at the University of Maryland Baltimore, the PROMISE Dissertation House page, the PROMISE Tumblr page, and PROMISE on YouTube.

The NSF USM PROMISE AGEP, along with the NSF USM LSAMP, will honor the commitment to contribute to the broadening participation efforts of the White House’s MBK STEM+ Entrepreneurship initiative with development and dissemination of best practices for inclusive STEM career access, preparation, retention, and advancement.

All images of and related to The White House are the property of https://www.whitehouse.gov/

The PROMISE AGEP appreciates working in partnership with programs such as the NIH Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program at UMBC and UMB, the Office of Graduate Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Maryland College Park, McNair programs, the Southern Regional Education Board’s Institute for Teaching and Mentoring, and other programs at NSF such as ADVANCE, CREST, and Engineering Research Centers.

Michael Summers, Robert E. Meyerhoff Chair for Excellence in Research and Mentoring and University Distinguished Professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has been elected to membership in the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Summers is one of only 84 new members and 21 foreign associates from 14 countries elected this year. Membership is one of the highest honors that a researcher can receive.

Summers’ election is a major milestone for UMBC as the university approaches its 50th anniversary, one that acknowledges Summers’ exceptional contributions to the scientific community and UMBC’s stature as a nationally and internationally recognized research university. This honor also recognizes Summers’ leadership in demonstrating what an inclusive university community committed to both teaching and research can achieve.

“For the Academy to recognize someone who tries to do quality research, but does it in an environment that is inclusive and involves undergraduates makes it so much more special to me,” said Summers. “I feel like it’s a recognition to all of us. There’s no way I’d be in this position if it weren’t for the support of the UMBC community, and especially the students who have worked in my lab, who made the discoveries that made this all possible. It really is a cumulative effort.”

Summers, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 1994, focuses on HIV-1, the retrovirus that causes AIDS. His lab’s groundbreaking work has determined the 3D structure of several components of the HIV-1 retrovirus using an imaging technique called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

“Mike’s spent the last 30 years studying the structure of HIV by developing and using revolutionary NMR methods,” says Zeev Rosenzweig, professor and chair of chemistry and biochemistry at UMBC. “Undoubtedly, these contributions have led to increased understanding of HIV.”

Now Summers’ lab seeks to learn more about how components of the virus interact with each other and other parts of the cell, and how those interactions change when a virus matures to an infectious state. “We’ve developed new ways of inhibiting the virus, providing important insights into how the virus functions and into how new drugs could potentially be developed,” says Summers.

Summers is also known for his deep commitment to training the next generation of leading scientists, from high school through postdoctoral levels. He has received mentoring awards from the White House, AAAS, and many others. Many of his UMBC undergraduates have had the uncommon opportunity to publish their work in high-profile, peer-reviewed journals.

Because of Summers’ mentorship and advocacy, “hundreds of scientists from underrepresented groups completed their degrees at UMBC and other academic institutions and medical schools all over the United States,” says Rosenzweig, “and now they hold leadership positions in academia, government, industry, and other sectors.”

Summers also serves the university beyond research and teaching as program director of grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also represents the UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars Program—described in Science as the “gold standard for providing a path into academic research” for students from underrepresented groups—to constituents beyond our campus.

“He represents the Meyerhoff program so effectively to the world, demonstrating through his deeds and time that students from all backgrounds can make huge contributions to science if they have the perseverance, determination, and support to succeed,” says David Asai, senior director of science education at HHMI.

Summers has recently been involved in developing a collaborative partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Pennsylvania State University to adapt UMBC’s Meyerhoff program at those schools, through $7.75 million in support from HHMI. “This work requires hard work, patience, and the ability to navigate around unforeseen barriers,” says Asai.

“Michael Summers represents the best of UMBC,” says President Freeman Hrabowski. “He’s a great researcher, a great teacher, and an amazing human being. We are so proud to call him a member of our community.”

Image: Michael Summers with students and a 3D model of a virus. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Federal policy requires that if you are going to use live vertebrate animals in NIH funded research, you must adhere to the requirements in the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, the NIH Grants Policy Statement and also in the instructions for the PHS398 and SF424 application forms. These requirements state that the specifics of animal use should be described in the grant application. For contract proposals, you should follow the instructions that accompany the request for proposal. 

If you are proposing the use of animals in your research application OLAW has a new podcast  on writing the Vertebrate Animal Section in your grant application or contract research proposal. Dr. Patricia Brown, OLAW Director, discusses why this application section is required, what reviewers look for, and more. 

For more information check out “Writing Your Vertebrate Animals Section” (mp3 | transcript) and other All About Grants podcasts.