Each summer, the Washington University Undergraduate Cancer Research Club (CRC) hosts local high school students in WashU cancer research labs as part of their Cancer Research Inspiring Future Scientists Program (CRISPr). Starting in 2022 as a collaboration between former CRC members and medical oncologist Dr. Angela Hirbe, CRISPr aims to bridge the gap between local students and science by providing opportunities to explore the cancer field.
One such opportunity is the annual spring workshop series, which takes place online. Across 6 weeks, students—regardless of where they are from—are able to listen to CRC-presented talks about the basics of cancer biology, cancer types and treatments, scientific literature, and common cancer research experiments. Following those background talks, students further apply that knowledge in the final two workshops as the CRC presents a journal club from a host lab and a summer internship PI discusses their career path and approach to research. The spring workshop series allows the CRC to reach and educate a larger audience, which sparks local students’ interest in cancer and research as a whole.
Following the workshop series, local students are invited to apply to the CRISPr internship, and selected students work in a WashU cancer research lab for 10 weeks before ultimately presenting their summer research at a culminating symposium. Throughout the summer, the CRC meets with the students each week in order to ensure proper progress, comfort in the lab, and to coach students on important scientific presentation skills prior to the symposium. Students are also exposed to a wide variety of cancer research as they learn about their peer interns’ projects. Topics last year ranged from “The Role of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in Efferocytosis in Breast Cancer” to “NF1-associated MPNST Chr8 Gain Response to Targeted Therapies Based on Chr8 Status.”
Despite starting out small, CRISPr has quickly become a competitive summer internship. Last summer, the CRC was able to accept 5 students out of 67 applicants from 29 local high schools, and the team is always looking to expand the opportunities provided. Currently, CRISPr is supported by the WashU Department of Biology, Siteman Cancer Center, and Bayer, and the CRC’s long term goal is to support 10 students annually. Across the past four summers, the CRC has been able to support 16 students, and they hope to continue having a profound impact on local high school students.
Past CRISPr summer interns have hailed from 11 different high schools in the St. Louis area, and alumni have since enrolled at a variety of universities while continuing research and pursuing leadership opportunities. Multiple summer interns have enrolled at St. Louis University, the University of Missouri-Columbia, and Washington University in St. Louis, while others have enrolled elsewhere such as Columbia University, the University of California-Berkeley, and Amherst College.
If you have any interest in hearing more about or supporting CRISPr, please do not hesitate to reach out to the CRC at wucancerresearch@gmail.com. The CRC Executive Team would love to speak with you, and they appreciate your interest in this entirely undergraduate-led program! More information can also be found on their website here.
