UMass Chan summer outreach programs inspire next generation of physician-scientists

More than 100 high school and undergraduate students spent part of their summer on campus at UMass Chan Medical School, participating in four of the University’s outreach programs, exposing students to careers in medicine and biomedical science.

“At UMass Chan, we now have this suite of programs for high school and college students, different in the ways they operate, the ways they interact on campus and for the time students get to spend here, but they complement each other. They’re all ultimately pointing in the same direction: maintaining a diverse pipeline for engagement and future success in medicine and science,” said Brian Lewis, PhD, the George F. Booth Chair in the Basic Sciences, professor of molecular, cell & cancer biology, and assistant vice provost for outreach and recruitment.

Summer Undergraduate Research Program

Among the programs is the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, which is designed to diversify the pool of biomedical researchers and place undergraduate students in the cutting-edge laboratories of UMass Chan investigators. The program has accepted more than 700 students since its launch in 1993, including 39 students that would later earn their MD, PhD or MD/PhD degrees from UMass Chan. More than 360 students who participated in the program went on to earn an MD, PhD or master’s degree.

This year, UMass Chan’s outreach programs received more than 750 applications for the 10-week program, accepting 33 students (a four percent acceptance rate) from universities across the country. Among this year’s students is Erika Lu, a UMass Amherst biochemistry major from the Greater Boston area.

Lu spent her summer working in the lab of Jessica Spinelli, PhD, associate professor of molecular medicine, studying mitochondrial nucleotide metabolism and how it can impact cancer chemotherapies. Lu said it was a rewarding summer seeing academic concepts applied in real-world research, having supportive mentors and working alongside like-minded students.

 “The research is the largest part of the program and everyone I’ve met is so passionate about their work. It has been great to spend time with other students with similar career goals and hear what they’re working on in other labs,” Lu said.   

Pranoti Mandrekar, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the Summer Undergraduate Research Program, said this year’s group of undergraduate students has a clear interest in engaging in research, particularly in areas such immunology, neurobiology and cancer research.

“It’s been clear that the students this summer are interested in both lab-based bench science and clinical research. They want to create new discoveries, find new ways to approach healthcare and take their education and careers above and beyond,” Dr. Mandrekar said.  

Linhelle Charles, Student Undergraduate Research Program coordinator and outreach programs administrative coordinator, added, “What we hope they take away from their time here is the importance of being a physician and a scientist, and knowing what triggers certain diseases, how those diseases impact people and how they can respond to patients in need.”

High School Health Careers Program

For four weeks in July, students from nine area high schools participated in the High School Health Careers Program. The special program for high achieving students exposes them to healthcare careers at an early stage in their academic development and encourages them to consider futures in healthcare and science.

Robert E. Layne, MEd, assistant dean for outreach programs and the curriculum coordinator of the High School Health Careers Program, said this year’s students expressed serious interest in fields like radiology, neurology, psychiatry and OB-GYN.

“We had some super students this summer and they adapted so well to the rigorous learning schedule and to each other,” Layne said, adding that the program received more than 600 applications for just 20 program spots.

Kieran Wangai, a rising senior at Minuteman High School in Lexington, Massachusetts, was among the select group of high school students this summer wearing their designated blue lab coats through the halls of UMass Chan.

Wangai, who is from Acton, Massachusetts, is interested in pursuing a career in neurology with a focus on autism research. He said the hands-on clinical experiences provided this summer were eye-opening and a real privilege.

“I never imagined I would be in a clinical setting this summer. It was amazing. I found it all interesting and I looked forward to it each week,” Wangai said.

Summer Enrichment Program

This year’s summer outreach programs at UMass Chan started with 25 undergraduate students from 16 universities participating in the four-week Summer Enrichment Program from mid-May to mid-June. The program is designed for rising college juniors and seniors interested in entering health professions. Of the 300 students who completed this program prior to this year, 18 of them earned degrees from UMass Chan.

MD CAMP

Rounding out this summer’s programs is a newcomer, the MD CAMP (Community, Access, Mentorship and Purpose). The two-week program is run by first- and second-year medical students from the T.H. Chan School of Medicine and enrolled 19 rising junior and senior high school students from five Worcester high schools, including Burncoat Senior High School, Claremont Academy, Doherty Memorial High School, South High Community School and Worcester Technical High School.