High School & Undergraduate Programs

Online Hybrid Research Course | Ninth To Tenth

Ninth grade students from high schools in Duarte, Monrovia, Azusa and El Monte will be given the opportunity to take a virtual laboratory class with the STEP team at City of Hope. Throughout the course, we will be able to check the students’ progress through two virtual learning platforms. For the first year of the program, students will be selected to participate by their teachers and schools.

Students will start the course in spring of their ninth grade year, and complete the course during their 10th grade year. This program is designed to help prepare students for summer research internships at City of Hope, and/or other summer research opportunities they may be interested in attending. The course will focus on the hallmarks of cancer. During the class, students will participate in virtual interactive laboratory activities that introduce them to different laboratory techniques and experiments.

For more information, please contact ​Danielle Guardado daguardado@coh.org.

Virtual Education and Research Training | High School and Undergraduate Students

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be offering in-person summer laboratory research experiences for high school or college students this summer.

In place of these in-person experiences, we have developed a virtual laboratory program that will utilize the Labster and LabXchange platforms. The course is designed to teach students about various laboratory techniques and experiments while providing insight into cancer research. The main topics we will focus on are cancer prevention, detection and treatment. We aim to provide the students an experience that will be as close to working in an actual laboratory as possible. During the program, students will be asked to work independently to complete various assignments, including in-depth virtual laboratory/experiment simulations that will mimic real laboratory experiences. STEP team facilitators will be accessible via email to answer any questions or provide assistance as students work through the course, and will host a weekly check-in session to answer questions and provide additional background information for the students. Throughout the course, we will be able to check the students’ progress through the two virtual learning platforms.

In addition, we will host weekly professional development sessions for the students. Topics will include individual development plans, how to ask for a letter of recommendation, what makes a good letter of recommendation, and how to construct professional and lay versions of an elevator pitch. These sessions will also offer students a chance to ask questions about next steps if they are interested in exploring careers in research or are looking into undergraduate or graduate programs in science. Students who participated in the 2020-2021 Virtual Cancer Research Course are eligible to participate in part two of the course during the summer of 2021.

For more information, please email, YouthSTEP@coh.org.

Hilton Science And Nutrition Summer Research Program | Eleventh to Twelfth

The Science and Nutrition Summer Research Program, sponsored by the Hilton Foundation, was held virtually for its fourth year in 2020. The program aims to introduce students to varying nutritional science concepts, starting with the function of the six main components of food, including carbohydrates, fats, proteins and minerals. As students build on their understanding of these basic principles, they further explore the effects of nutrition on other human diseases, such as cancer and diabetes, as well as other conditions, like mood disorders, behavioral disorders and food allergies. Students also put laboratory techniques to the test through hands-on, commercial-grade laboratory assays and/or through online virtual laboratory simulations of common industry-grade procedures in the medical and research worlds.

During the program, students are encouraged to examine well-known diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and Crohn’s disease under “a magnifying glass” through scientific journal readings, medical case studies and group discussions. Students consider the role genetics, behavioral choices and access play on an individual’s health. Students visit City of Hope’s community garden, the “Garden of Hope,” to talk about food issues and insecurities in our society. Students meet and hear from our resident community gardener, Alan Melgoza-Calderon, as he explains the detrimental impact of food waste, tells students about some of the hot topic debates surrounding food today, and shows students the various fruits and vegetables available in the garden for community members to take at no cost. Students also take a close look at socioeconomic impacts within communities and the lack of access to fresh, healthy foods that some people face.

Saturday Seminars | Seventh To Ninth

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing guidelines, it may not be possible to run this program in person during 2021. Please check back for more information next spring.

STEP will host six three-hour YES2SUCCESS Saturday Seminars for select seventh and ninth grade students who attend school in a YES affiliated school district (Azusa Unified, El Monte Union High School, Duarte Unified, Monrovia Unified). Students will be selected by recommendations from their teachers. The Saturday Seminars will give participating students more in-depth research and laboratory experience. Each session will consist of an interactive, educational, hands-on research experience.

During meetings, students will also discuss health disparities and the role of research in decreasing disparities. Students will learn about the technologies utilized by City of Hope’s state-of-the-art core facilities, and will design a novel experiment based on the technology utilized by one or more of the core facilities. The students' projects will be submitted to the leaders of the core facilities for review and feedback. In the fall, we will host a symposium where students will present their projects to City of Hope staff and leadership, community members, and the students’ families. City of Hope’s core leaders will choose and announce a winning project.

For more information, please email, YouthSTEP@coh.org.

Volunteer Opportunities At Saturday Science Days

Join us at City of Hope by volunteering for Saturday Science Days! Each month at Saturday Science Days, we explore a new science topic. Each session is filled with informative lessons and fun, hands-on activities at different stations for local students ages 8 to 13. Volunteers will have the opportunity to run one of the stations and walk students through a hands-on activity. ​Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Saturday Science Days for the 2020-2021 school year will be virtual. If you are interested in volunteering in the future, please check back for more information.

For more information, please email, YouthSTEP@coh.org.

Partnership With The Eugene And Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy

Since 2018, STEP has collaborated with the Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy (Roberts Academy), which is a 10-week paid summer research internship. The Roberts Academy was established in 1960 by City of Hope’s director emeritus of neurobiochemistry, Eugene Roberts, Ph.D., with the goal of providing high school juniors and seniors, as well as undergraduate students, with an opportunity to participate in hands-on research experiences. Students are paired with one of City of Hope’s world-renowned physicians or scientists, who serves as their mentor, and together they design a research project about a topic they find interesting. Students then spend 10 weeks as a full-time member of their mentor’s biomedical research team, working on the research project they designed. During those weeks, students also participate in workshops covering important topics such as creating posters for research talks and biomedical ethics.

Participants share their research findings with their peers and instructors in a weekly student seminar series, as well as in a final written report at the end of their project. The summer culminates in a poster session during which students present research posters describing their work and findings.Over the course of the summer, City of Hope’s physicians and scientists guide students in their research, while helping them develop their critical thinking skills and encouraging independent thought and exploration. Summer students also work closely with post-doctorates, graduate students, and lab personnel. These interactions foster valuable relationships between students and City of Hope professionals. STEP offers URM students from the local community help with their applications to the Roberts Academy, and hosts additional seminars and programming  within the Roberts Academy for qualifying YES students. 

For more information, please contact Stefanie Wright stwright@coh.org.