BUILD PODER

BUILD PODER

Welcome to BUILD PODER!

Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Promoting Opportunities for Diversity in Education and Research (PODER) is a large undergraduate biomedical research training program established in 2014 by a $21.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Under the auspices of the NIH Diversity Program Consortium (DPC), BUILD PODER is one of ten NIH-funded BUILD sites that train undergraduates to become biomedical researchers. Along with the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN) and the Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC), BUILD sites coordinate their activities and data to develop a national database of best practices.

Why PODER? 
PODER stands for Promoting Opportunities for Diversity in Education and Research. Poder also means “power” or “to be able to" in Spanish. Through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT), we focus on social justice and reducing health disparities in communities. CRT is the basis for many programmatic activities including the student Summer JumpStart program and faculty mentor training. At BUILD PODER, we believe that when we diversify the biomedical workforce, researchers will generate innovative and relevant research questions, methods, and interpretations that will lead to health equity. 

BUILD PODER is sustained by the formation of a new Health Equity Research and Education (HERE) Center that supports 4 cluster-hired faculty members and postdoctoral scholars in engaging undergraduates in biomedical research.

 

In 2014, CSUN was awarded $21.3M to create an experimental undergraduate research training program to increase the diversity in the biomedical workforce. The result was BUILD PODER, a training program for undergraduate students, faculty mentors, research faculty, and our community college partner institutions, guided by critical race theory (CRT, Solórzano & Yosso, 2002) and community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005). In 2019, we were awarded another $18.1M aimed at disseminating and institutionalizing our evidence-based practices. Over the past 8 years, our BUILD PODER team has been working towards these goals. And we wanted to share some student highlights with you.

We are launching the first of the student infographics about the impact of BUILD PODER. You will find five infographics an overview of all CSUN trainees, and one for each of the Biomedically-related Colleges. More infographics on faculty and student-related activities is forthcoming! 

 
Spotlights

Spring 2021 Honor Roll

July 1, 2021

spring 2021 honor roll mini

Congratulations to BUILD PODER Scholars and Trainees who not only completed the rigors of their research, but went above and beyond in their academic excellence! Read more

Fall 2020 Honor Roll

January 11, 2021

fall 2020 honor roll screenshot

Congratulations to BUILD PODER Scholars and Trainees who not only completed the rigors of their research, but went above and beyond in their academic excellence! Read more

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