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Proclaimed as the "Crown Jewel of City University of New York" by The Princeton Review, Hunter College has a distinguished reputation for nurturing talented minority scientists and meeting the challenge of providing high-quality science education in the 21st century. The Hunter College School of Nursing and The Center for Study of Gene Structure and Function (Gene Center) at Hunter College - Research Centers in Minority Institutions(RCMI) are major partners of the CTSC.
Partnering with the Hunter College School of Nursing (HCSON) will greatly enhance the participation of nurses as leaders; participating members of team research, particularly community-related research; teachers or trainees in CTSC education and mentoring programs; and other aspects of the CTSC.
HCSON educates nurses who reflect the diversity of the urban population, and who are committed to the reduction of healthcare disparities in underserved areas. HCSON students represent many ethnic groups that come from more than 30 countries. Many students are recent immigrants and are often the first in their family to attend college. HCSON received a10-year accreditation from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing. Education (CCNE), the accreditation arm of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Approximately 85% of HCSON faculty are doctorally prepared, and include researchers and scholars with external funding from federal sources such as NIH and HRSA, private funders such as William T. Grant Foundation, and a variety of state and local funding agencies.
HCSON currently offers public undergraduate generic and registered nurse pathway programs and 9 graduate degree and certificate programs. Of particular interest to the CTSC partnership, HCSON offers a masters program in community health nursing leading to a Master of Science degree in Nursing, and an dual degree option which consists of a joint community health Masters in Nursing and a Masters in Public Health -one of the premier programs in the Schools of the Health Professions. This program prepares nurses to assume leadership roles in community health nursing and population-based research.
The HCSON offers a Doctor of Nursing Science degree (DNS), in a consortium arrangement involving the CUNY Graduate Center, Lehman College and the College of Staten Island. This program is the first publicly supported nursing doctoral program in the New York City area. The objectives of the DNS program are to provide education in nursing and related theories, and in empirical research methodology to prepare nurse leaders, expand the knowledge base of nursing through research and scholarship, and prepare the next generation of nursing faculty and scholars. The DNS is unique in the metropolitan area, as it is a clinical research degree, focusing on nursing interventions. A dissertation is required. The goal of the course of study is to prepare graduates who will undertake systematic, applied research to improve patient outcomes affected by the quality of nursing care. Graduates are prepared to assume leadership positions in health care settings and academia, and to develop and implement nursing outcomes research. Clinical research in epidemiology and health outcomes, and other research for the DNS degree, can be carried out at the CTSC.
The Schools of the Health Professions, of which the HCSON is a component, also offers a clinical doctoral program awarding the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT). Students in the DPT program have a major part of their clinical and research experience in collaboration with the Hospital for Special Surgery, conducted at the CTSC. The DPT program prepares students to become clinician-scientists who can apply research to clinical practice as part of their professional role of physical therapist. Students in both the DPT program, and in the DNS program described earlier, are eligible for a dual MS/DNS or MS/DPT degree through the CTSC. Further, research for both programs can be conducted in the CTSC.
The Center for Study of Gene Structure and Function (Gene Center) at Hunter College of The City University of New York is a successful consortium of researchers in Chemistry, Biological Sciences, Biopsychology, Biophysics, Bioanthropology and Urban Public Health (http://genecenter.hunter.cuny.edu). Hunter College is the only public research institution among the major partners of the CTSC. A grant from the Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program (RCMI) of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Grant Number G12 RR-03037 has supported infrastructure, faculty recruiting and core research facilities since 1985. Current funding for the Gene Center comes from a $13M competitive renewal NIH grant.
Through partnership in the CTSC, the Gene Center’s basic researchers and their fellows, will collaborate with clinical translational researchers at the three core research institutions. CTSC education programs in Clinical and Translational Research will include faculty, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students at the Gene Center. The Gene Center is well positioned to address health disparities through translational research.
The Gene Center boasts unparalleled quality and diversity in its faculty and student researchers. Dr. Robert Dottin, provides leadership for the Gene Center, as its Director. The Gene Center has outstanding faculty and graduate students with a significant number of role models for future under-represented scientists and opportunities for effective interventions in addressing health disparities. At the heart of the Gene Center’s mission are the following imperatives:
Research at the Gene Center covers a wide variety of disciplines and topics, including determination of the structure of proteins and nucleic acids by X-ray diffraction and molecular modeling; characterization of proteins involved in signal transduction; investigation of regulatory mechanisms underlying neuron functioning and regeneration; nanotechnology; bioinformatics; public health research, and behavioral research. Many of the ongoing research projects already address AIDS, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and compliant behavior-- all important aspects of clinical translational research.
The Faculty are highly respected funded researchers who are recognized and awarded at the highest levels: For example in 2005, Dr. Derrick Brazill, an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, received the prestigious Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). In 2001, Dr. Marie T. Filbin, a Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences, was named Co-Recipient of the prestigious Ameritec Prize for Paralysis Research.
Since the Center’s inception in 1985, the growing number of papers published in peer-reviewed journals (84 in FY 2005) and the number and amount of grants obtained (67 grants totaling $16.8M in FY 2005) by the faculty have been the most visible hallmarks of the Center’s success.
The Gene Center has demonstrated its capacity for building the most diverse scientific enterprise in the nation. Since 1985, the Gene Center has recruited 20 outstanding faculty researchers of whom 10 are members of groups underrepresented in Science (J Angulo, J Bargonetti, D Brazill, R Dottin, W Harding, M Lewis, D Mootoo, B Ortiz, V Quinones-Jenab, S Prasada). The total number of research labs in the Gene Center is 46 - in Biology (18), Chemistry (12), Biopsychology (13), Biophysics (1), Bioanthropology (1) and Urban Public Health (1).
Hunter is currently the performance site for the Just Garcia Hill -The National Website for Minority Scientists (http://www.justgarciahill.org). The JGH includes a database of 6,000 minority scientists at different stages in their development. This powerful resource is available to identify and recruit scientists and students – especially for collaborating and conducting research through the clinical translational science center proposed here. Recently the Gene Center received co-funding to partner in the RCMI Translational Research Network (RTRN) which provides electronic infrastructure for clinical research collaboration among 19 national research centers. The RTRN award ($9M) was made to Charles Drew Medical College in August 2007. An important component of all of these electronic collaborations is the deployment at the Gene Center of a unique high-speed Internet2 facility for videoconferencing, which will also enable real time collaboration, and observation of experiments from disparate locations.
Therefore, the Gene Center and Hunter College are well poised to increase the number of minorities who are involved in translational research on all levels and thereby to improve the quality and focus of translational research especially in areas addressing health disparities. “The CTSA will create synergistic programs among these neighboring institutions and complement the efforts of President Raab to build a new science building at Hunter College” said Dottin.
