Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Program

The Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) Program aims to help fill the nation’s shortage of minority men and women in biomedical research careers. As an MBRS undergraduate or doctoral student, you will be mentored by Rutgers-Newark faculty members to perform biomedical and/or behavioral laboratory research. You will receive a salary, research supplies, and travel funds to participate in scientific conferences. Doctoral students will receive full tuition remission. You will be guided to develop your own research project, analyze and present your research findings at professional scientific conferences, and co-author publications based on your research.
MBRS reviewing brain
MBRS Student Eleni Frangos and Program Director Dr. Barry Komisaruk reviewing brain activity images from their research. Eleni is holding a preserved human brain slice for reference. The images are of regional activity of Eleni’s own brain.
 

All MBRS students participate in biweekly meetings at which they present their research findings and at which invited visiting Minority biomedical scientists present research seminars.

There have been over 100 graduates from our MBRS Program. Our baccalaureates have continued on in graduate and medical schools (e.g. Johns Hopkins, Yale, and Boston Universities). Our PhD's have continued on in Postdoctoral Fellowships (e.g. Rockefeller University, Mayo Clinic, and MIT), several with their own competitive federal grants, and then into tenure-track faculty positions (e.g. University of Puerto Rico).

Funding

Funding is provided by a grant under the Institutional Minority Student Development (IMSD) Program of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), plus a supplement from Rutgers University. The MBRS Program is currently in its 35th year of continuous funding. Rutgers University provides salary supplements to the graduate students above the NIH allotment, in order to achieve parity with the other graduate assistants.

Participating University Departments

  • Biological Sciences
  • Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience (CMBN)
  • Chemistry
  • Environmental Science
  • Nursing
  • Physics
  • Psychology
Dr. Barry Komisaruk, Director
Minority Biomedical Research Support Program
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
101 Warren Street
Smith Hall 304
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Telephone: (973)353-5772
e-mail:  brk@andromeda.rutgers.edu