As a part of the CIRM SPARK program, our Outreach Program within the BOG-Regenerative Medicine Institute at Cedars-Sinai hosted eight local high school students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. The CIRM SPARK summer interns received eight weeks (~31 hours per week) of intensive hypothesis-based mentored research in one of fifteen labs, all focused on the use of stem cells for regenerative medicine. In addition they spent one day with the ALS clinic staff learning about the inner workings of organizing/ running a clinical trial, visited our ALS clinic to interact with patients, visited various core facilities (comparative medicine and imaging) to learn more about the research process and will receive lectures from various faculty. In addition to attending their own labs' weekly journal clubs and lab meetings, the interns met weekly to learn about scientific reading, writing and presentations. They also participated in the larger Cedars-Sinai Intern program, going to "Knowledge Nosh" luncheons to listen to speakers and presented posters of their summer research at Research Intern Day. Their summer culminated in attending the workshop hosted by CIRM in Berkeley where they listened to speakers, gave podium and poster presentations. Our vision is that students will learn the power of Regenerative Medicine and gain experience that will propel them forward to a successful scientific career.
Reporting Period:
Year 2
As a part of the CIRM SPARK program, our Outreach Program within the BOG-Regenerative Medicine Institute at Cedars-Sinai hosted eight local high school students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. The CIRM SPARK summer interns received seven weeks (~35 hours per week) of intensive hypothesis-based mentored research in one of fifteen labs, all focused on the use of stem cells for regenerative medicine. In addition, they spent one day with the ALS clinic staff learning about the inner workings of organizing/ running a clinical trial, visited the Blood Donor Program Facility and various core facilities (comparative medicine and imaging) to learn more about the research process and will received lectures from various faculty. In addition to attending their own labs' weekly journal clubs and lab meetings, the interns met weekly to learn about scientific reading, writing and presentations. They also participated in the larger Cedars-Sinai Intern program, going to "Knowledge Nosh" luncheons to listen to speakers and presented posters of their summer research at Research Intern Day. Their summer culminated in attending the 2018 SPARK Meeting hosted by CIRM at City of Hope in Duarte, CA, where they listened to speakers, gave podium and poster presentations. Our vision is that students will learn the power of regenerative medicine and gain experience that will propel them forward to a successful scientific career.
Reporting Period:
Year 3
As a part of the CIRM SPARK program, our Outreach Program within the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute at Cedars-Sinai hosted eight local high school students from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. The CIRM SPARK summer interns received seven weeks (~ 30 hours a week) of intensive, hypothesis-driven and mentored research in one of fifteen labs, all focused on the use of stem cells for regenerative medicine. In addition, they spent one day with the ALS clinic staff learning about the inner workings of organizing/running a clinical trial, visited the Blood Donor Program Facility and various core facilities (comparative medicine and imaging) to learn more about the research process. The students also received lectures from various faculty as introduction to each tour and topic. Students were required to attend their own labs' weekly lab meetings and journal clubs (if offered) and in addition the interns met weekly to learn about scientific reading, writing and presentations. The students also participated in the larger summer internship program hosted by Cedars-Sinai, where they attended "Knowledge Nosh" luncheons to listen to speakers, and they presented posters of their summer research at Research Intern Day, held at the end of summer. Their summer culminated in attending the workshop hosted by CIRM at UCSD in Sacramento, where they listened to speakers and presented their own research through podium and poster presentations. Our vision is that students will learn the power of Regenerative Medicine and gain experience that will propel them forward to a successful scientific career.
Reporting Period:
Year 4
As a part of the CIRM SPARK program, our Outreach Program within the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute at Cedars-Sinai hosted eight local high school students from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds living within the Los Angeles county area. The CIRM SPARK summer interns received 7.5 weeks (~ 30 hours a week) of intensive, hypothesis-driven and mentored research in one of fifteen labs, all focused on the use of stem cells for regenerative medicine therapy and disease modeling. In addition, they spent one day with the ALS clinic staff learning about the inner workings of organizing/running a clinical trial and interacting with patients, visited the Blood Donor Program Facility and various core facilities (comparative medicine and imaging) to learn more about the research process. The students also received lectures from various faculty as an introduction to each tour and topic. Students were required to attend their own labs' weekly lab meetings and journal clubs (if offered) and in addition the interns met weekly to learn about scientific reading, writing and presentations, as well as stem cell biology and career paths. The students also participated in the larger summer internship program hosted by Cedars-Sinai, where they attended "Knowledge Nosh" luncheons to listen to speakers regarding science/medicine subjects and they presented posters of their summer research at the Cedars-Sinai Research Intern Day, held at the end of summer. Their summer culminated in attending the workshop hosted by CIRM at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, where they had a tour of the campus, listened to speakers and presented their own research through podium and poster presentations. Our vision is that students will learn the power of Regenerative Medicine and gain experience that will propel them forward to a successful scientific career, either in science or medicine.
Reporting Period:
Year 5/6
As a part of the CIRM SPARK program, our Outreach Program within the Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute at Cedars-Sinai hosted eight high school students from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds living within the Los Angeles county area. The CIRM SPARK summer interns received 7.5 weeks (~ 25 hours a week) of virtual training that included intensive, hypothesis-driven and mentored research in one of fifteen labs, all focused on the use of stem cells for regenerative medicine therapy and disease modeling. In addition, they had live virtual tours of the Blood Donor Program Facility and various core facilities (comparative medicine and imaging) to learn more about the research process. The students also received lectures from various faculty as an introduction to each tour and topic. Students were required to attend their own labs' weekly virtual lab meetings and journal clubs (if offered) and in addition the interns met weekly to learn about scientific reading, writing and presentations, as well as stem cell biology and career paths. The students also participated in the larger summer internship program hosted by Cedars-Sinai, where they attended a week long "Deep Dive Into Research" to listen to speakers regarding science/medicine subjects. They also presented posters of their summer research at the Cedars-Sinai Research RMI Intern Day, held at the end of summer. Their summer culminated in attending the virtual meeting hosted by CIRM at UC Davis, where they listened to speakers and presented their own research through virtual poster presentations. Our vision is that students will learn the power of Regenerative Medicine and gain experience that will propel them forward to a successful scientific career, either in science or medicine.
Grant Application Details
Application Title:
Mentored High School Summer Research Program
Public Abstract:
The CIRM SPARK program will be an intensive research experience for eight local high school students. This summer research training will be a prodigious addition to our existing high school outreach program, which has a track record of over 5 years of success in educating students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds, including classroom lectures, hosting field trips and an existing one-week summer research program. As a part of the SPARK program, the summer interns will receive eight weeks (~31 hours per week) of hypothesis-based mentored research in one of the fifteen labs in our institute, all focused on the use of stem cells for translational studies in regenerative medicine, with the hopes of accelerating delivery of stem cell based therapies to patients with unmet needs. In addition to their research projects, students will receive a comprehensive research education. Students will spend at least one day learning about the inner workings of organizing/ running a clinical trial and shadowing physicians/nurses in an ALS clinic to interact with patients. During their eight weeks they will also visit various core facilities (comparative medicine and imaging) to learn more about the research process and will receive lectures from various faculty. The students will be expected to attend their host labs' weekly journal clubs and lab meetings. They will also meet weekly in a group course to learn about different career paths in science and medicine, scientific reading, writing and presentations. Lastly, the students will attend a speaker series geared towards research interns and present posters of their summer research at Research Intern Day, both organized by our Institution. Here the students will get to know other summer interns and present their data. Our vision is that the students involved in this summer research internship will learn the power of regenerative medicine and gain experience that will propel them forward to a successful scientific career. Additionally, through the use of social media, we hope that reports of this research also informs the citizens of California of the uses of stem cells for regenerative medicine and inspires other young people to become involved in research.
Statement of Benefit to California:
This research program will benefit the State of California and its citizens by 1) introducing high school students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds to the exciting world of regenerative medicine, 2) training them to become the next generation of scientists and 3) administrative and student community outreach via social media to inform all California citizens of the potential of stem cells and regenerative medicine. First, our existing high school outreach program has a track record of over 5 years of success in educating students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. We plan to continue forward with the addition of the SPARK summer program to recruit local high school students for summer internships from diverse backgrounds. Second, these summer internships will then be used to train 8 high school students to inspire them to become part of the next generation of research scientists with a particular interest in the potential of regenerative medicine. Lastly, through posting updates and blogs on CIRM's website, our institution's website and through other social media outlets such as Instagram and Facebook, this program will be a platform to educate the public of California at large about the potential of regenerative medicine via the use and study of stem cells for translational therapies.
