News

By Stephanie O’Neil, reporter KPCC news. Read the original article here. For many Southern California high school students, summer is synonymous with surf, sand and sun. But, for some of Los Angeles’ top math and science students, the lure of the beach and traditional summer fun fizzles fast when compared to microscopes, slide kits and real-life stem cell research. Armed with little more than protective gear and enthusiasm, 20 overachieving teenagers have been clocking 40-hour weeks in the lab at USC’s Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research. Among them is 17-year-old Brian Tom of Lincoln Heights. “It’s fascinating because stem cells have all this potential to heal these degenerative diseases like Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s,” says Tom, a senior at Bravo Medical Magnet in Los Angeles. “It’s amazing how you can create multiple tissues from one cell.” Stem cells offer promise as a treatment or cure for many diseases because they can be can induced to morph into other cell types — such as brain, muscle or skin cells. Stem cells can also divide without limit, which gives them the potential to repair and replace damaged tissue. “You can just imagine the possibilities,” says Sophie McAllister, a 17-year-old senior at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles. McAllister works with a USC mentor on cardiac cell regeneration. Two programs, one goal McAllister and nine other students are in a program that’s privately funded by two donors with ties to USC. Meanwhile, Tom and his summer school classmates are studying under a statewide program funded by the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), a voter-created agency that funds stem cell research throughout California. CIRM has invested $1.7 million in nine high school summer programs statewide for three years. The two programs share the goal of nurturing stem cell interest among California’s top math and science students from all across the socioeconomic scale. “We’re all very excited for the potential for stem cell and regenerative medicine and what it can do for human health,” says Kathryn Rich, director of training and education programs at USC’s Broad Center. “Training the next generation is the key part of that.” Each Friday, she says, the students from both programs attend forums or lectures, which typically focus on data analysis, scientific writing and the ethical issues involved in harvesting stem cells from discarded embryos to create new cell lines. But, most of the time, they’re upstairs working in the 5th-floor lab with mentors who are doing actual stem cell research. Hands-on heart research On a recent afternoon, McAllister demonstrated how she makes microscope slides containing minuscule heart cells for the researchers in her program. “I dehydrated the heart,” she says, “Then we set it in a cube of wax and into that machine.” McAllister points to a sturdy white block of a device she says is called a microtome. That, she adds, is the machine “that slices it really thin so you can put it on slides.” Next to the machine sits a large computer monitor that displays the mouse cells, each stained in bright colors. “This is actually the whole mouse that was sectioned, but this part’s the heart,” she says, pointing to a bright blobby mass indecipherable to the uninitiated eye. In an adjoining lab, Tom spends his days helping researchers clone new cells so they can study certain perplexing stem cell behaviors. “One of the problems in stem cell research is that even though we can create a lot of types of tissues — brain cells, cardiac cells, muscle cells — they don’t behave in the exact same way that we expect them to,” Tom says. “Sometimes they die spontaneously and we don’t know why. Sometimes they migrate to weird positions and become cancerous.” Solving these mysteries is a thrilling prospect to the students in USC’s stem cell program, even if that sometimes means sacrificing friend-time. “They’ve sort of put aside some of their other interests, [the desire] that other kids might have for a social life,” Rich says, “because they love science and it becomes a lifestyle, almost.“ A lifestyle that Sophie McAllister and Brian Tom say is well worth the time they’re investing. “This is one of the great spots for looking into regenerative medicine and stem cells in general,” McAllister says. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more to do with my summer.” The students complete their summer session with a colloquium open to the public on Aug. 10 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the first floor seminar room at USC’s Broad Center.

Story by Isabell Mason, USC Daily Trojan. Read the original article here. The Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC will hold two new programs this summer that offer high school students the opportunity to experience hands-on lab research in the biomedical sciences and to encourage them to pursue science after high school. Summer · The Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research Center at USC will offer two summer programs for high school students interested in stem cell research and practical lab experience. – Photo courtesy of Keck Medicine of USC Early Investigator High School Summer Program in Stem Cell Research gives scientifically minded high school students from Harvard-Westlake School, the Marlborough School and the Lifeline Education Charter School the ability to experience eight weeks in a research laboratory. The USC Science, Technology and Research High School Summer Research and Creativity program, which has a 23-year standing partnership with the Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School, will broaden into stem cell research with its $264,000 grant from the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. These programs offer high school students eight weeks in the lab and a weeklong workshop at the beginning of the summer, during which students learn techniques for stem cell research. Participants also attend progress meetings and seminars, and are assigned regular lab duties. “Expansion of the USC STAR summer research program is an exciting new chapter in our science education endeavors and partnership with Bravo High School,” said Dr. Roberta Diaz Brinton, director of the USC STAR program. USC STAR will offer 10 high school students the opportunity to intern with a research team either at the Stem Cell Center or one of its 50 associate laboratories. All CIRM STAR interns will give a final research presentation and will aid in planning the Stem Cells, Creativity and the Public forum. In the EiHS program, students will be placed with a mentor who will guide them through the research process. The program has accepted three students from Harvard-Westlake but is not sure how many applicants it will accept from Marlborough and Lifeline Education Charter School. Students are nominated by teachers and are required to fill out an application and attend an interview. Dr. Victoria Fox, EiHS program director, said she started this program because of high school students’ interest in science. “This is a research-run facility involved in training individuals from undergrads to professors,” Fox said. “Every year I got bombarded by high school students who wanted to come to my lab and gain experience.” Fox said he hopes EiHS will give participants the opportunity to gain practical experience in a lab. “The program will bring kids from all different backgrounds together through science and take kids from any school that are gifted and give them opportunity to work in a lab at a higher education level,” Fox said. Brinton said this program is important for the USC STAR program and for the students who will gain from this new opportunity in science. “The Broad Institute of Regenerative Medicine faculty mentorship of STAR students joins in the remarkable Trojan Family spirit of USC scientists who give so generously of their gifts and talents and who pay it forward,” Brinton said.

By Leslie Ridgeway, Director Communications and Media Relations, Daily Trojan. Read the original article here. Two summer programs for high school students at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC will focus on developing well-rounded researchers for the future. Photo/Steve Cohn Two new summer education programs at the Keck School of Medicine of USC aim to give high school students with aspirations for careers in biomedical research a special opportunity to gain experience in the field. The USC CIRM Science, Technology and Research (STAR) High School Summer Research and Creativity program will enable 10 interns to spend eight weeks working with USC scientists, gaining experience in stem cell research, communication strategies and public policy development. In addition, the USC Early Investigator High School (EiHS) Summer program in stem cell research will place students from the Harvard-Westlake School and the Marlborough School in an eight-week program working with faculty-scientist mentors who will supervise the students learning about lab procedures, ethics and compliance. Both schools are in the Los Angeles area. “These new summer programs will encourage students to enter the promising field of stem cell research and give them opportunities for establishing lasting friendships with other students and their faculty mentors,” said Keck School dean Carmen A. Puliafito. The programs are among the many that USC offers to high school students interested in careers in science and medicine. Both will begin in June. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to give these nascent scientists a head start in their careers and perhaps the spark to make them want to choose stem cell research for their life’s work,” said Andrew McMahon, director of the Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC. “Researchers need an appreciation of the world around them, and this program will provide that important stimulation.” The USC STAR Summer Research program was funded by a $264,000 Creativity Award from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). USC is one of nine California institutions to receive a CIRM Creativity Award this year. The grant is administered under the USC STAR program, a collaborative science program that has existed for 23 years between USC and nearby Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School. “Expansion of the USC STAR summer research program to the Eli and Edythe Broad Center is an exciting new chapter in our science education endeavors and partnership with Bravo High School,” said Roberta Diaz Brinton, director of the program. “Stem cell biology is one of the most exciting areas of discovery and translational research, and the researchers within the Broad Center are among the very best in the field. We are honored to have been chosen by CIRM to advance their mission and ours to create the next generation of discoverers and innovators in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine.” The STAR Summer Research program will begin with a weeklong stem cell biology techniques workshop. The interns then will join a research team within the Broad Center or an associate member laboratory, and participate in meetings and a social event to create a CIRM student network, culminating with a final research presentation by all CIRM high school student interns. Students also will help plan a forum titled “Stem Cells, Creativity and the Public,” intended to integrate stem cell biology research with expression in the humanities, public communication and public policy decision-making. The EiHS program offers similar experiences for budding stem cell scientists. EiHS was developed by Victoria Fox, director of the stem cell core at the Broad Center with support from Jeff Gunter, a Los Angeles-area physician and chair of the center’s advisory board. “There is a lot of interest from high school students in Los Angeles for internships in stem cell labs,” said Fox, who directs the EiHS program. “I am enthusiastic about education and have worked with several students, but the demand became so high that we decided to start a formal program.” Students in the EiHS program will spend the first week learning basic lab and stem cell training, seguing into forums and seminars on topics, such as conducting responsible ethical research and how to develop a professional science career. The students will conduct a mentor-supervised research project, attend seminars, author an online journal and generate a poster for an adjudicated poster session at USC. Applications are being accepted at the Harvard-Westlake School, and the program is expected to get under way in June. Applications for the EiHS program will be selected based on grades and interest in science, as well as letters of recommendation from science teachers. Students also will be interviewed by a panel of scientists at the Keck School. “We are honored to be a part of the EiHS program,” said Jeanne Huybrechts, head of Harvard-Westlake School. “We appreciate the opportunity to help craft this program. We plan to encourage our own most promising young investigators to participate in the program and become an integral part of the stem cell disease teams at the Keck School.” Gunter is working with other schools in hopes of expanding the EiHS program in the future, allowing students across the region to participate. “The EiHS program will elevate and transform our high school teenagers into promising young investigators who will lead us and our medical community in finding cures for generations to come,” Gunter said. “If our children can begin their violin studies at age 3 and formalize sports training at an age of 4, without a doubt these exceptional high school students, regardless of socioeconomic backgrounds, are ready and can succeed at our program.”

By Julia Aizuss, Harvard Westlake Chronicle. Read the original article here. Three students will have the chance to participate in an eight-week internship program researching stem cells at University of Southern California this summer. Current juniors and seniors are eligible to apply for one of three spots in the USC Early Investigator High School Summer Program in Stem Cell Research. The Upper School Science Department will choose a short list of candidates to send to the EiHS Summer Program for final selection to the spots reserved by a Harvard-Westlake parent reserved, science teacher David Hinden said. Selected students will conduct and present original research on embryonic stem cells in laboratories at The Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research.