BUILD History
The CSULB Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Program was one of 10 programs in the United States funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) BUILD Initiative from 2014-2025. as part of the NIH Diversity Program Consortium. With over $40M in funding, it is one of the largest awards ever received at CSULB and includes 4 colleges: Engineering, Health and Human Services, Liberal Arts, Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The overall goal of CSULB BUILD Program is to develop and strengthen a sustainable pipeline of researchers by providing exceptional research and skills training to the next generation of scientists. The research conducted by our trainees will advance scientific knowledge and technology contributing to the improvement of human health and well-being. The research is conducted across different disciplines in engineering, behavioral, biological, clinical, physical, public health and social sciences, and can include basic, applied, and translational approaches to studying a variety of health issues facing our communities and nation.
Over a decade, the program has made several long-lasting impacts on the CSULB campus and the community. Prior to the BUILD Phase I and II awards, a NIH Planning grant was obtained to assess the strategic planning and assessment of our campus resources and needs of underrepresented students in pursuing health-related research careers. The findings from the Planning grant helped inform the BUILD Phase I award (2014-2019). In addition to providing research training and mentorship for our students, the program also contributed to enhancing the campus research capacity and facilitating the infrastructure development to support faculty research and scholarly activities. Several initiatives, including the BUILD Scholars and Fellows Programs, the Week of RSCA event, and the Beach Mentor Program and Faculty Equity Advocates for faculty were successfully institutionalized during the BUILD Phase II award (2019-2025) and will continue beyond NIH funding.
The success of the program is a result of a great team of faculty and staff who serve the program in various roles:
Planning Grant PIs and Leads: Drs. Guido Urizar, Britt Rios-Ellis, Paul Buonora, Gino Galvez, and Mara Bird
BUILD Phase I (2014-2019) PIs: Drs. Laura Kingsford and Guido Urizar
BUILD Phase II (2019-2024) PIs: Drs. Chi-Ah Chun, Jesse Dillon, Simon Kim, Panadda (Nim) Marayong, and Kim-Phuong Vu
Program Directors/Co-Directors: Drs. Paul Buonora, Malcom Finney, Laura Henriques, Kevin Kelly, Jose Rodriguez, Kelly Young, and Arturo Zavala
Training Directors: Drs. Pitiporn Asvapathanagul, Perla Ayala, Niloofar Bavarian, Young-Hee Cho, Virginia Gray, Araceli Gonzalez, Nancy Hall, Amber Johnson, Isabella Lanza, Roger Lo, Selena Nyugen-Rodriguez, Paul Weers, and Sarah Zigmont
Program Evaluators: Drs. Erin Arruda, Gino Galvez, Alejandra Priede, Mia Steinberg, and Nada Rayyes
Program Staff: Dr. Keisha Chin-Goosby, Ashley Colbern, Enrique Flores, Alex Garbanati, Zenny Hernandez, Myriam Loeschen, Dr. Rocio Mendoza, Dr. Hector Ramos, Marie Reed, Jesus Reyes, Carma Spence, Kaitlyn Stormes, Nicole Streicker, Sarah Velasco, Dr. Stefania Za, and Nancy Zuniga.
