At the age of 22, Isaac Kinde knew that he wanted to be a doctor when he accepted a Meyerhoff scholarship at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. "I hadn't thought about doing research at all before I came to UMBC," says Kinde, the son of Ethiopian immigrants who grew up in southern California. But like many other students in the program, he joined Michael Summer's lab the very first summer after freshman year.

"I loved it, I didn't stop," says Kinde, who graduated this year with a degree in biology and is now enrolled in the MD/PhD program at nearby Johns Hopkins University.

Working side-by-side with top scientists in HIV research could have been intimidating, but Kinde says the Meyerhoff's Summer Bridge program helped smooth the way. "I'm so glad I went through it because when I started freshman year, I was ready. I hit the ground running."

The high expectations Summers and others at UMBC have for minority students helped, too. "As any new scientist would do when joining a lab at the freshman level, I messed up a bit," Kinde recalls. "But it was never like 'Oh, that's what we thought would happen.' If Dr. Summers had had that attitude, my life probably would've been a lot different."

Summers, an HIV researcher and Howard Hughes Medical Institute researcher, launched the Meyerhoff Scholars Program with UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski in 1989. At that time, the school graduated 18 African-American science and engineering majors per year, on average, from an undergraduate population of over 9,000.

Since the program's inception, 86% of the program's 508 graduates have earned science and engineering bachelor's degrees - a seven-fold increase since 1989 - and 87% of that group have gone on to get their master's and/or PhDs.

Like many diversity-focused programs, the Meyerhoff offers full scholarships to high-achieving minority high school graduates with an interest in science. But funding is only the beginning. "Students can get a scholarship and still feel isolated," Summers says. "What you really need is programs that develop a sense of community."

That sense of working with a team starts early with the Meyerhoff's Summer Bridge session where the 50 Meyerhoff recipients undergo a six-week presemester boot camp to get them up to speed. "They'll take a math course, science courses. They're in class 20 hours a week. There are competitive projects," Summers said. "They're also taught how to study, individually and in groups. We even teach etiquette, poise, how to speak up and be heard."

The end result: Meyerhoff kids are primed to succeed in that crucial first year when so many freshmen feel overwhelmed. "Instead, they go in with really effective study habits, and typically they're making A's right up front," Summers says. "They're not struggling."

With that type of academic foundation in place, students are ready for what comes next. "Right after freshman year, during the summer, they get involved in research laboratories," says Summers. "By working in a lab with faculty, graduate students, and postdocs, they quickly develop relationships with senior people. They can also see what lies ahead if they choose this path."

Getting minority students to feel like real scientists as early as possible is key to retaining them in the field, experts say. Unfortunately at most institutions, lab work doesn't come until much later. "By that time, you may have lost them," says Summers. "Science can be so much fun, but too many undergrads never get to see it."

"Our data, collected over more than 15 years and published in Science, show that even the brightest students are half as likely to be retained in science and five times less likely to pursue PhD studies if they are not involved in retention programs," Summers adds. "The brightest students are precisely those that we should be focusing on retaining, as they are the most likely to develop into role models and change expectations of the white population."