Thomas Landefeld: Solution to Minority Health Disparities Lies in Ability to Train Students

Thomas Landefeld, professor of biology, presented talks on “Becoming a Scientist: Career Choices for Minority Students in the Sciences” and “Endocrinology as a Career Choice, Especially for Minority Students” this spring at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La.; Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Tex.; and Virginia State University in Petersburg.

Landefeld is the program director of the Bridges to the Baccalaureate Degree program, which prepares minority science students from community colleges to transfer to California State University, Dominguez Hills and earn their bachelor’s degree in the sciences. He describes how minority campuses are often left behind in resources, technology and mentoring programs for students to excel in the sciences and compete for graduate schools and jobs.

“Particularly in the sciences where resources and facilities must be state of the art and are costly, the conditions are very poor,” he says. “There are not sufficient funds on these campuses to provide the science students with the resources and opportunities to be competitive at higher levels of training and to pursue graduate degrees. In fact, without federally funded grants for actual facilities, equipment and release time for faculty, the conditions would be even worse.”

Landefeld commends the efforts of faculty at underserved campuses to bring their students as much research experience as possible, mainly through summer programs at higher level institutions. However, he points out that “While this is an excellent opportunity for the students, it is very often their only research experience. This means the home institution is not able to provide the tools necessary to make the students most competitive.”

As the former director of the Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research (U*STAR) program, Landefeld worked to provide CSUDH students with research and networking opportunities typically unavailable to aspiring minority scientists. He feels that while the richest resource at any institution is the students, “decisions need to be made to provide these institutions with monies that enable them to provide opportunities that will in turn prepare a workforce that reflects our society demographics of the future.”

In his talks to encourage minority students to enter the field of endocrinology, Landefeld underscores the great need to eliminate racial health disparities.

“Many endocrine-related disorders such as diabetes, prostate, breast and ovarian cancer and uterine fibroids affect the minority community at a much higher rate than non-minorities,” he points out. “Exposing minority science students to these issues can definitely have a major impact on their career choices, since often, they themselves or a relative or friend is affected by these diseases.”

- Joanie Harmon-Whetmore