Teens gain hands-on research experience in OHSU Knight Cancer Institute program
08/24/10 Portland, Ore.
Participants chosen for their ability to prevail despite challenging personal experiences Elena De Jesus Hernandez resolved to pursue a career in medicine after her mother died of cancer in 2006.
"I saw how professional and caring the nurses were and I decided that's what I wanted to do," Elena said.
Elena took a big step forward in her science education this summer by participating, for a second year, in a research program at Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute. The Ted R. Lilley Cancer Continuing Umbrella of Research Education (CURE) Project gives students — who have prevailed despite challenging personal experiences — an opportunity to gain hands-on biomedical research experience.
Elena not only had to cope with the loss of her mother, but in 2003, when her family moved from Mexico to Hillsboro, Ore., she entered the fifth grade though she'd never before attended school and didn't speak English. Even so, Elena excelled. She was among the top third of the students in her physics class before graduating from Hillsboro's Liberty High School, selected as a Gates Millennium Scholar and will attend George Fox University in the fall.
Elena, 18, said being involved with CURE has exposed her to more career options in healthcare and science. "It's increased my interest in research." Through CURE, Elena worked with investigators this summer on research into why illness causes fatigue. Her mentor at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute was Daniel L. Marks, M.D., Ph.D. Marks is a pediatric endocrinologist at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital and the Papé Family Pediatric Research Institute and is director of the Oregon Child Health Research Center. In Elena's previous work with CURE, she did research with cancer cells.
Elena will give a presentation about her work on Aug. 18 at OHSU's Hatfield Research Center along with the three other students who participated in this year's program. The other CURE participants and their OHSU Knight Cancer Institute mentors are:
″ Juan Ugarte, 18, a Liberty High School graduate who will attend the University of Oregon in the fall; Ugarte worked with Grover Bagby, M.D., a professor in the departments of Medicine and Molecular & Medical Genetics.
″ Francisca Machic-Riscajche, 18, a Liberty High School graduate who will attend George Fox University in the fall; Machic-Riscajche worked with Ann Hill, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology.
″ Monique Gemechu, 17, who will be a senior at Madison High School in the fall; Gemechu worked with Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer, Ph.D., an instructor in the Department of Medical Informatics & Clinical Epidemiology, and James Tanyi, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Medicine.
All four were also mentored this year by Abdusebur Muse Jemal, a research assistant at the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute who participated in the first class of the CURE program before earning a bachelor's degree in human biology at Stanford University and a master's degree in public health from Yale University. Abdusebur will be applying for medical school this fall and illustrates the CURE program's goal to increase the diversity of students who select careers in health and science.
"CURE helped me define some of my goals and it strengthened my interest in science," Abdusebur said. "You get to see how work in a lab can change someone's life."
The Ted R. Lilley Cancer Continuing Umbrella of Research Education (CURE) Project is made possible by philanthropic support and is run by the Center for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.
More on the CURE Program
