PROJECT SUMMARYThe University of Arizona (UArizona) MARC program provides research experiences formal and informalmentoring financial support and professional development training to upper-division underrepresented studentswho have an interest in and potential to pursue biomedical research careers. The program seeks to increase thenumber of such students entering PhD programs. The overarching objectives are to support 14 MARC traineesper year in two cohorts beginning June 2023 and for 85% of the trainees to complete the program graduate fromUArizona and matriculate in PhD or combined-PhD/MD programs by Fall 2029. The trainees will beunderrepresented honors students from 14 biomedically-relevant majors distributed in 12 departments acrossfour colleges at UArizona. Outstanding well-funded UArizona MARC training faculty will provide researchguidance and intensive mentoring drawing upon their significant experience with undergraduates and theircommitment to training underrepresented students. Trainees will also be formally mentored by the ProgramDirector and Associate Director. Through the Minority Biomedical Research Colloquium series trainees will meetprominent scientists from other institutions as well as former UArizona MARC trainees who are currently in orrecently graduated from PhD programs. Trainees will attend workshops on responsible conduct of researchresearch safety and minority health disparities; take part in a scientific writing course; attend national scientificmeetings; participate in intramural and extramural research; present posters at campus and nationalconferences; give oral presentations in the Research Colloquium series and other forums and attend workshopson the graduate application process. Each trainee will be provided individualized support on graduate schoolapplications and will be coached through the interview and selection process. The UArizona MARC program willalso encourage lower-division underrepresented students to perform well academically so as to secure MARCtraineeships and thus prepare for careers in biomedical research. The MARC program has been iterativelydesigned based on feedback from former and current trainees the program evaluator and the internal AdvisoryCommittee. The success of this responsive program design is evident in metrics from the past funding cycle inthat the percentage of underrepresented trainees entering biomedical doctoral research programs improved from70% for the first cohort (20172018) to 90% for the fourth cohort (20202021). The MARC Program DirectorAssociate Director and Assistant Director have and will continue to provide persistent seamless and inclusivesupport for trainees. We will continue to provide effective activities and inclusive support to enhance the transitionof our trainees into biomedical research doctoral programs.