Stony Brook Cancer Center is a strong supporter of cancer education at the undergraduate level. This relatively unique aspect for an institution – coupled with the close proximity of the Rensiassance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University (SBU), Stony Brook Cancer Center (SBCC) and SBU’s undergraduate campus to each other – provides the perfect setting for the interaction of multiple science-oriented training programs targeting undergraduates interested in cancer STEM careers.
Karen Kernan and Keith Sheppard, EdD, lead summer and year-round undergraduate programs designed to promote entry into research careers, including cancer. The two programs, URECA and I-STEM, provide stipends to facilitate student participation. More than half of the students work in SBCC member labs. {will link to these programs}
Women in Science and Engineering Honors Program
SBU also has a Women in Science and Engineering Honors program at the undergraduate (WISE) and graduate (GWISE) levels. These represent some of the most talented students on campus; they receive mentoring and guidance toward STEM careers from their first day on campus. Three hundred students a year enroll in WISE, with about 10 percent of them choosing to work in SBCC laboratories this past year.
Center for Inclusive Education
SBU has a long-established and very effective Center for Inclusive Education (CIE), which recruits students who increase diversity through provision of scholarships, helps place them in labs of interest, and provides mentoring and support throughout their training. The CIE targets recruitment and success of trainees at the graduate student level as well, highlighted by the provision of Turner awards to help recruit outstanding URM (underrepresented minority) trainees. Many of these students do their training in SBCC member laboratories. Additional training opportunities targeted to increasing diversity are provided by an NCI R25-funded INDUCER (Increasing Diversity in Undergraduate Cancer Biology Education and Research) program (five students per year).
Undergraduates engaged in cancer research are invited to SBCC events and considered for funding support to attend scientific conferences to cement their interest and career direction.