New CREHST program aims to expose students to clinical aspect of cancer research

Building off the success of its Continuing Umbrella for Research Education (CURE) Program that encourages underrepresented minority undergraduate and high school students to pursue careers in healthcare, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey is offering a related program focusing on clinical research. The Clinical Research Experience for High School Students (CREHST) program, funded by a generous grant from the Rita Allen Foundation, aims to expose students to the clinical aspect of cancer research and careers available in what are known as STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields.

The CREHST program was developed with the goal of achieving diversity in the biomedical research workforce. Select high school juniors and seniors who met application criteria and were accepted into the program soon will begin to train alongside physician-scientists at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. The goal is to motivate them to pursue college degrees in STEM areas and ultimately choose a career in biomedical research.

Sunita Chaudhary, PhD, director of research education at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, leads the CREHST program. "Through the generous support of the Rita Allen Foundation, we are able to provide our mentoring faculty with additional tools and resources to provide a comprehensive clinical research experience for these students. And most important, this funding helps the Cancer Institute of New Jersey fulfill its education mission of training the next generation of scientists," she noted.

Some of the research projects the students will work on include examining combination therapies for various hematological malignancies, exploring new genetic approaches to the treatment of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, and looking at signaling pathways in prostate cancer, among others.

The five students selected will begin the one-year training program in July. They will spend 40 hours per week at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey through the summer, followed by one afternoon per week during the upcoming academic year. Trainees will spend 80 to 90 percent of their time on their research projects while taking part in additional enrichment activities that focus on general cancer knowledge, the nature of oncology research, experimental design, bioethics, protection of human subjects and scientific writing. Students also will attend lectures on clinical research topics including cancer prevention, cancer as a disease, diagnosing cancer, cancer treatment, clinical trials and cancer drug development.