Because of a new federal grant awarded to the ongoing Alabama State University-University of Alabama Birmingham cancer research center, a select group of high school and undergraduate students are spending their summer in Montgomery at ASU learning about cancer research and gaining exposure to the field of science.
ASU just received a $20,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), that expands an ongoing cancer research program for high school and undergraduate students into the summer.
The additional grant was made possible by an ongoing ASU-UAB partnership funded by the NCI. That partnership was funded by a nearly $1.4 million, four-year grant awarded by NCI in 2014.
At ASU, Dr. Manoj Mishra, director of the Cancer Biology Research and Training (CBRT) Center, and Dr. Upender Manne from the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center are the lead principal investigators. Dr. Karyn Scissum Gunn, ASU’s associate provost for Academic Affairs, serves as the co-principal investigator.
The "Summer Experience" program in cancer research exposes talented high school and undergraduate students to cancer research and education. The program is designed to engage, motivate and train students about cancer and health disparity fields.
Dr. Sabita Saldanha, an assistant professor of Biology, is the program coordinator. She said the award supports four high school and three undergraduate students.
“This award will boost the outreach activities on cancer research to our local area high school and our own undergraduate students,” Saldanha said. “It also will help train the next generation of youth early in their career so they can be part of the STEM workforce in the future. The summer programs have been successfully used as a tool for student recruitment and retention,” she added.
The summer program will end on July 27, when the students will travel to Atlanta for a summer institute.
Varun Kosgi, a rising junior at LAMP High School in Montgomery, said he will utilize the skills and techniques he has absorbed in his future endeavors.
“The invaluable research and lab experience provided to me through the CBRT at ASU is an extraordinary opportunity to delve into the world of biology, medicine and STEM as a whole,” Kosgi said.
Kayla Pressley, a senior at Carver High School in Montgomery, said the program helped to give her direction about her future.
“The cancer research program has helped to shape my fascination in STEM, and turn it into a definite career path I would like to take later in life,” Pressley said.
For more information, visit
www.alasu.edu/cbrt
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Monday, July 18th 2016 at 1:41PM
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