In its second year, the Bridges program is housed in the
FAMU College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (COPPS). It is a 10-week
summer research experience partnership between FAMU and TCC that provides
students with the academic skills, research training, and support network
necessary for successful careers in fields related to science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM), namely the biomedical sciences.
The goal of the program is to cultivate and increase the number of qualified African American, Hispanic, and other underrepresented minority students from TCC who seek to obtain a four-year degree through the biomedical sciences programs offered at FAMU, including biology, microbiology, chemistry, biochemistry, environmental health sciences, food and animal sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, and biochemical engineering.
The FAMU-TCC Bridges Program also includes a mentorship
component that matches TCC students with FAMU research faculty from the College
of Agriculture and Food Sciences, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, College of
Science and Technology, the School of the Environment, and COPPS .
The Bridges program is already making a national
impact. David Perez, a student from the
2014 cohort, and sophomore environmental engineering major at TCC, recently
received the top Microbiology Research Award for his poster presentation at the
Annual Biomedical Conference for Minority Students in San Antonio, Texas. Perez was among 1,700 student participants
who competed nationally in 12 different disciplines including molecular
sciences, cell biology, and microbiology, as well as engineering and chemistry.
His Bridges mentor was Ashvini Chauhan, an associate professor in the
University’s Environmental Biotechnology Lab.
“As a participant in the TCC-FAMU Bridges program at FAMU, I
was hoping to expand my perspective on research and to meet people who would
provide additional direction for my future. Both of these goals were realized,”
Perez said. “Being at FAMU for the Bridges program let me experience a
world-class system that convinced me to pursue a degree there. I found its
research mission very compelling.”
The Bridges program is funded by a 5-year, $2.1 million
grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, an arm of the
National Institute of Health. Carl B. Goodman, professor and assistant dean for
Research and Graduate Studies, and Calandra Stringer, dean of curriculum and
instruction at TCC, both serve as co-principal investigators for the Bridges
program.
“The fundamental purpose of the FAMU-TCC Bridges Program is
to attract and inspire young talented STEM students from TCC, like David, to
obtain their undergraduate degrees in one of the many outstanding biomedical
science programs at FAMU,” Goodman said.