CREATE-HS: A summer Research Experience for Emerging Scientists in High School

ABSTRACT According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, with over 600,000 individuals projected to succumb to this disease in the current year. Although cancer affects all populations, socioeconomically challenged groups exhibit poorer outcomes, and this may be driven, in part, by social determinants, including fewer researchers and care providers from disadvantaged backgrounds. Thus, there remains a pressing need to expand the cancer-specific biomedical workforce, including providers. As educational decisions that may affect career outcomes are often made in the college and pre-college timeframe, it is essential to offer programming to get students who have not yet had biomedical research experience exposed to cancer career pathways, a concept recognized by the NCI-YES training mechanism. Over the past 6 years, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) has piloted a summer research experience for these high school students, which we term the Cancer Research Experience for the Advancement and Training of Emerging Scientists in High School (CREATES-HS). Over the past 6 years, we have developed considerable experience in recruiting and training outstanding students from across the Columbus metro area, and early returns on this investment have been strongly positive. Based on this experience, we are applying for NCI support to solidify the position of the CREATES-HS program within the OSUCCC infrastructure to expand our community impact and continue to facilitate the accessibility of cancer research careers to these promising students. The CREATES-HS program has three Specific Aims: Aim 1. To expose high school students to cancer-related career opportunities by integration of an intensive 8-week paid summer research experience in a basic, translational, or population science cancer research group with a defined series of cancer education activities and introduction to cancer-related careers. Aim 2. To prepare high school students for future cancer-related careers by providing college readiness and career development activities. Aim 3. To demonstrate to high school students the importance of cancer-research and cancer-related careers by providing personalized and meaningful experiences with the cancer community. Students will interact with cancer survivors and participate in service opportunities with Pelotonia, a local grassroots organization with impressive ties to cancer patients and cancer survivors in Ohio which fundraises to support cancer research. We will track and evaluate outcomes from participants to measure short-term gains in cancer-related attitudes and knowledge, to make improvements to programming and to assess long-term enhancement of career outcomes, including educational pursuits. By providing an early entry point into the cancer research pathway to these highly motivated students, the CREATES-HS Program aims to build a more welcoming and effective future research environment, which will enable the OSUCCC to reach its stated vision: To create a cancer-free world — one person, one discovery at a time.