Addiction Research and Investigation for Science Educators (ARISE)
National Institutes of Health / National Institute on Drug Abuse
Adela de la Torre, PI
Co-Investigators: E.G. Jones, J. Wilson, N.W. Zane
9/1/2008-8/31/2012

Addiction Research and Investigation for Science Educators (ARISE) aims to improve the content knowledge of science teachers (grades 7-12) in the area of biology, biochemistry, and neurobiology, using drug abuse and addiction as an interest approach in understanding scientific concepts. Project focus is on teachers who have large numbers of English Language Learners in their science classes. These teachers must improve both their pedagogical skills in teaching EL students, and their ability to teach science standards effectively to both English Proficient and English Language Learner students.

Public Health Laboratory Director Training Program (LabAspire)
California Department of Public Health
Adela de la Torre, PI
10/1/2007-06/30/2010

LabAspire, a state-wide scientific education program, addresses the need to recruit and prepare qualified students for professions in public health laboratory science. UC Davis’ program objectives for LabAspire recruitment, outreach and evaluation are to (a) increase awareness of public health laboratory appointments and educational pre-requisites among students in California’s public higher education institutions; (b) recruit qualified candidates along the educational pipeline to pursue state-subsidized trainings and internships, doctoral fellowships, post-doctoral fellowships, and professional vacancies; (c) ensure that the cultural and ethnic diversity of the pipeline at every level mirrors the rich diversity of California; (d) evaluate recruitment and matriculation efforts of the academic partners to assess efficacy of program activity in meeting objectives.

LabAspire Outreach and Recruitment Program
The California Wellness Foundation
Adela de la Torre, PI
07/01/2007-06/30/2010

The purpose of this grant is to enable the LabAspire program coordinator to concentrate efforts on recruitment of underrepresented minority students into pipeline programs for LabAspire.

Nigeria Interfaith Response to HIV/AIDS (NIRHA)
Past funding: UC Davis Academic Center Committee on Research
Adela de la Torre and Jacob Olupona (Harvard University), Co-Principal Investigators, US
Dorcas Akintunde, Ph.D., Professor of Religious Studies, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Dorothy Ucheaga, Ph.D., University of Calabar, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria.

The purpose of NIRHA is to show that an HIV prevention education campaign can only be successful when implemented with culturally sensitive and religiously integrated intervention techniques.  It is increasingly apparent that the religious doctrine and religious leaders in Nigeria more significantly influence individual behavior than either government or external messages.  NIRHA will develop, test, and refine HIV/AIDS prevention and education interventions working with identified religious leaders. The study proposes to evaluate the efficacy of these programs in affecting knowledge levels and behavioral change within these selected communities.  The results of this project should contribute to greater understanding of the role religious leadership can play on a global scale in the reduction of HIV transmission.