IU Simon Cancer Center’s summer program available to underrepresented populations

Application deadline is Feb. 17, 2012; program is May 31-July 27, 2012

INDIANAPOLIS — (December 7, 2011) — High school and college students from underrepresented populations interested in cancer research careers can gain hands-on experiences during next summer’s Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center Summer Research Program.

The cancer center’s annual Summer Research Program, held in partnership with the Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) Center for Research and Learning, places students with a mentor physician or researcher for nine weeks (May 31-July 27) on the IUPUI campus. Students work with faculty who are conducting studies in the most progressive areas of cancer research.

The program’s primary goal is to increase the number of underrepresented populations engaged in basic, clinical, and prevention and control cancer research by providing positive and meaningful firsthand exposure to those fields.

Each student receives a stipend (payment) of $3,200. Students are responsible for their own housing arrangements.

The Summer Research Program provides students an opportunity to:

• interact with any one of five cancer center research programs, 10 shared facilities and more than 100 world-renowned investigators
• gain exposure to a wide-range of basic science, translational, and clinical research activities
• continually interact with and learn from other students, clinical and post-doctoral fellows, and faculty
• attend weekly workshops that deal with issues related to gaining admission to graduate and professional programs of study

Students are selected on interest in biomedical or behavioral science, grades, and personal interviews. High school students who participate must have completed at least their junior year and have maintained a grade point average of

at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Undergraduates in the program must have completed 24 hours of college credit, be majoring in a biomedical or behavioral science, and have maintained a grade point average of at least 3.2.

Additional information and an online application is available at  www.cancer.iu.edu/srp. Questions?  Contact the IUPUI Center for Research & Learning at (317) 274-8880.

The application deadline is Feb. 17, 2012.  Those students selected as finalists will be invited to campus for an interview on March 16, 2012.