Students & Scientists Environmental
In its seventh year, the Prevention Is The Cure (PITC) environmental and primary prevention campaign has mobilized community minded people in a broad based “coalition of concern” to enact change for the generations to come. During the summer of 2007, the organization proudly launched its Students & Scientists Environmental Research Scholarship Program. Following themodel of a highly successful grassroots summer scholarship mentor program for high school students created by the Great Neck Breast Cancer Coalition, the Students & Scientists Environmental Research Scholarship Program made its maiden voyage. In keeping with the overall arching philosophy of the PITC platform, this outstanding program encourages participants at every level to make important contributions with great results. Giving students an opportunity to get excited about science – to experience how science matters and the differences environmental research can make furthers this message in real time to the all important “next generation”. When husband and wife research team, Dr.’s Jose & Irma Russo of the prestigious Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia were approached with the research program concept, the answer was clear. Fox Chase Cancer Center was formed in 1974 and is one of the nation’s first comprehensive cancer centers. Research is conducted in more than 80 laboratories by a staff of more than 325 physicians and scientists. About 170 clinical trials of new prevention, diagnostic and treatment techniques are under way at any one time with almost 800 new patients a year participating in treatment studies. With a Nobel Prize winning research facility ready to host a 4 week full hands-on breast cancer laboratory research internship, the search for the perfect student began. A key player in the fast tracking of this unique program was the administration of Walt Whitman High School. Whitman had significantly expanded its Science Research Program in recent years with the goal to provide students with interesting and comprehensive research experiences. They responded with a particularly interested and motivated student, Tehreem Rehman, a Whitman junior. “I had initially learned about the internship through my science teacher. I have had a passion for science since I was about eleven years old and throughout high school was always eager to get hands on experience in a laboratory setting,” comments Ms. Rehman, who worked daily during the month long program in a Fox Chase laboratory supervised by two staff mentors. “What was especially appealing about this particular program was that the internship would enable me to assist in an experiment investigating a common pollutant and its effect on the development of breast cancer. I have always felt the reason behind rising rates of cancer was somehow interrelated with the environment and getting the opportunity to aid in research that coincided with my own personal beliefs was truly phenomenal” she proudly explained. Ms. Rehman put the knowledge and experience she gained at the Fox Chase Cancer Center into an 18 page PowerPoint presentation which was presented to the laboratory staff on her final day in the program. She also conducted an in-depth personal interview with her mentors, renowned cancer researchers, Dr.’s Jose and Irma Russo and co-presented to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) at their annual BCERC National Science Conference in November. “I learned more than I would have ever
expected in my fours weeks at Fox Chase” says Ms. Rehman. “I
realized that it is truly imperative for our nation to encourage
more students to pursue a career in science research. And
most importantly, I became so much more aware about the suspected
causes of breast cancer and the extent of the detrimental effects
of the pollutants in our environment.”
Also visit the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences website at: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/careers/research/summers/index.cfm to learn more about their internship program Summers of Discovery. |
