The CURE High School Research Academy is a cancer science curriculum that is offered in the form of a multi-year course. It was developed from the partnership between the UC Davis Cancer Center, the local St. Hope Academy at inner city Sacramento High School and the Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology.
Program Description
The CURE program is designed
to connect UC Davis cancer scientists and clinicians with high school students
from the community who attend the Math Science Engineering and Health Academy
at Sacramento High School. CURE students participate
in a two-year academy that involves coursework, field study, and research
experiences that teach students about cancer science, medical technologies and
scientific research.
The goal of the UC Davis Cancer Center’s CURE program is to
offer a cancer science curriculum that will ultimately increase the number of
underrepresented students that select cancer-relevant science majors at
four-year undergraduate institutions. It
will achieve this goal by providing ongoing and engaging learning experiences
in basic, clinical and population sciences to three cohorts of twenty local
high school students over the next four years.
The aims of the CURE program are:
(1) To offer a two-year cancer science curriculum consisting of
didactic and experiential learning in basic, clinical and population sciences
for three successive cohorts of 20 high school students from Sacramento High
School.
(2) To attract, recruit and enroll these students during the second
semester of their ninth or tenth grade.
(3) To
help prepare these students for entry into four-year institutions with a
greater aptitude for and probability of selecting cancer-relevant majors.
(4) To
track and longitudinally report the achievements of CURE students and alumni.
(5) To document and disseminate lessons learned.
Biophotonics and Cancer Science Curriculum
Year 1 Modules
Topics
Basic Science
Module 1: Introduction to Cancer Biology,
Biophotonics, Scientific Investigation, Information Technologies
What is cancer? What
technologies are useful in studying cancer?
How does cancer science happen?
What kinds of work do cancer scientists do? What tools, techniques,
and skills will we use to study cancer?
Module II: Experiences in Light Basics for Biophtonics
Electromagnetic spectrum, nature of light, light and color, absorption,
transmission, reflection, optics, light sources, light/tissue interaction,
spectroscopy
Module III: Experiences in Biology Basics for Oncology
Cell biology, gene expression, cell cycle, cellular differentiation,
cell signaling, life and death of a cell, cancer biomedicine, causes of
cancer, diagnosis, treatment, goals in cancer medicine
Clinical
Science
Module IV: Cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment
using Biophotonics:
Module I: Molecular and Cell Biology
of Cancer (Basic cancer science)
Characteristics of cancer, understanding cancer as a disease,
classification, diagnostic procedures, carcinogenesis, cellular
differentiation and progressions of malignant behavior, oncogenes, cell cycle
regulators, gene transcription/transduction, cancer therapies
Clinical
Science
Module II: Clinical Science
Cancer diagnosis and treatment:
cancer of different tissues (e.g. lung, breast, prostate, skin, blood,
etc.), cancer typing and staging, clinical tests, radiological imaging,
surgical biopsy, treatments (surgery, radiation and chemotherapy); life as an
MD, clinical duties, careers in clinical cancer science
Population
Science
Module III: Population Science
Cancer prevention and control in human populations: role and controversies associated with
nutrition and obesity; health communication and consumer health education,
environmental influences, cancer screening, role of culture and behavior, and
research topics.
Module IV: Lab skills for Cancer Science (INTEGRATED
INTO OTHER MODULES)
Gel electrophoresis, PCR, microscopy, spectroscopy, advanced imaging
techniques, bioinformatics
NSF Center for Biophotonics Science & Technology
University of California, Davis
2700 Stockton Blvd., Suite 1400
Sacramento, CA 95817
TEL: (916) 734-8600 FAX: (916) 703-5012
