DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Attempts to support underrepresented minority (URM) students for education and careers in scientific research have had some success. Programs such Minority Opportunities in Research (MORE) sponsored by the National Institutes of Health Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIH-GMS) have been shown to increase the likelihood that URM students will continue successfully towards careers in biomedical science research (Barlow and Villarejo, 2004). However, until quite recently, very little research had been reported that addressed how intervention programs have their effects, information that could be used to enhance programs and scale up support efforts. In 2003, NIH-GMS began to fund basic research designed to understand the processes and effects of intervention programs under the "Efficacy of Interventions Promoting Entry into Biomedical Research Careers" initiative. The first grants awarded are now entering the fourth and final year of funded support, and other projects have been added to the cluster. There are now eleven projects under way. Timely analysis and synthesis of these research findings would go far to maximize the utility of this research for NIH policy and decision makers. The present proposal seeks funding to support an annual conference ("Annual Conference to Accelerate Research to Practice"), which will bring together, for a two-day conference, the principle investigators and other key research personnel who are grantee on this cluster. (There are currently eleven such grantees with an expectation of adding up to six more each year, with four to six grantees finishing each year.) During the conference, each grantee group will present a progress report on the group's research activities with an emphasis on key findings during the past year. After all groups have presented the principle investigators will meet, and with the facilitation of an expert consultant, will analyze and synthesize the collective body of findings presented with the goal of identifying replicable and significant findings across groups. The consultant (to be chosen) will have high levels of expertise in (a) the literature on efforts to support underrepresented minority (URM) students, (b) support program design, and (c) social and behavioral science research methodology. Following the conference, the R13 principle investigator and the consultant will co-author a report to the NIH-GMS leadership.