The long term objective of this application is to increase the number of underrepresented minorities in biomedical research by providing a smooth transition for minority students from Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) to the baccalaureate degree in the Biological Sciences at Goucher College. This goal is consistent with the priority areas delineated in "Healthy People by 2000" spearheaded by the Public Health Service to promote health and prevent disease. To achieve this objective, minority students from BCCC will be invited to workshops at Goucher College to enhance their writing, math, laboratory, and analytical skills. Students who complete such workshops successfully will be invited to participate in research at host laboratories at Goucher College or at host laboratories arranged by Goucher College. To stimulate interest in pursuing their baccalaureate degree among BCCC students, four scientists from Goucher College will give seminars about their research at BCCC. After minority students transfer to Goucher College, every effort will be made to ensure their success through tutoring services at the Goucher College Academic Center for Excellence. Success at Goucher is influenced by students' ability to analyze a problem and express it clearly in both oral and written communication. Each student will work with a writing tutor every other week to improve their writing skills. Previous experience with transfer students from community colleges indicates such students need the most help in developing good writing skills. While at Goucher, minority transfer students will have the opportunity to work in a preparative laboratory to provide materials for our teaching laboratory. Furthermore, they can register for semester long courses in directed research and year long courses in independent research where students write a research proposal, implement the experimental design, and present he results of their research to their peers and mentors. These activities are expected to develop the students' ability to synthesize information from a literature search, formulate a framework for investigation, conduct the research project, and present orally and in writing the fruition of their efforts.