Regenerative medicine: a vehicle to infuse laboratory-bench modules into an exercise physiology curriculum

Regenerative medicine is a novel discipline that both excites undergraduates and may be used as a vehicle to expose students to scientific concepts and opportunities. The goal of this article is to describe the implementation of a National Science Foundation-funded Targeted Infusion Project in which underrepresented minority undergraduates are exposed to laboratory-bench skills and summer research opportunities that they may not have encountered otherwise. A 3-wk infusion of laboratory-bench and data presentation skills, in the context of a regenerative medicine/bioengineering project, aimed to engage students and expose them to opportunities as summer researchers and teaching assistants. The infusion aimed to assess the extent to which students improved 1) attitudes toward laboratory-bench-based techniques, using attitudes toward science as a proxy; 2) perceptions of scientific inquiry; 3) intentions to engage in undergraduate research; and 4) intentions to persist in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related fields. Results indicate that the 3-wk infusion had no effect on science attitudes, but transcribed responses to structured interviews administered after the summer research experience indicated that students who completed summer research projects had positive experiences. Differences in intentions to engage in research were detected between groups of students in different STEM majors, in addition to differences in intentions to pursue a career in science. We describe the implementation of the infusion and briefly discuss quantitative outcomes. We conclude that infusion of laboratory-bench modules in the context of a regenerative medicine/bioengineering project may play a small but important role in increasing (minority) participation and persistence in the STEM pipeline.