The Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Initiative provides awards to undergraduate institutions across the country to implement and study innovative approaches to engaging and retaining students from diverse backgrounds in biomedical research. In 2014, the National Institute of Health (NIH) granted 10 five-year BUILD (Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity) awards. The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) was one of the 10 core institutions to receive the award which led to the formation of the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity: Southwest Consortium of Health-Oriented Education Leaders and Research Scholars (BUILDing Scholars) program. Under the UTEP BUILD award, there are 13 Research partners, with UConn being the only academic institution from the northeast.

 

BUILDing Scholar	Research Mentor	UConn Health Department
Isaac Gandara	Anne Delany	Molecular Oncology
Diana Moreno	Leslie Caromile	Vascular Biology
Nickolas Ortiz	Raj Verma	Neuroscience
Priscilla Parada	David Steffens	Psychiatry
Margarita Romero	Henry Smilowitz	Cell Biology

 

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